“My dancing idol is Patrick Swayze”: Peter Sagan signs up for Strictly Slovakia – but how have other pro cyclists who swapped their bikes for the ballroom fared?

It’s been almost a decade since that John Travolta ‘You’re the One That I Want’ impression, but Peter Sagan is finally ready to once again swap his S-Works 7s for some shiny dancing shoes.

Yes, that’s right, all cycling and dancing fans rejoice (what, just me?), as the three-time world champion has decided to interrupt his retirement – which has so far seen him mooch around the VIP tent at the Olympics and ride a water bike between Corsica and Monaco – to take part in Let’s Dance, Slovakia’s version of that British winter televisual staple, Strictly Come Dancing.

This week, 34-year-old Sagan was unveiled as the second celebrity confirmed to be competing in this year’s series, the tenth edition of the Slovakian celebrity dancing spin-off.

Just like in its Strictly and Dancing with the Stars counterparts, the former Paris-Roubaix winner will be paired with a professional dancer, and coerced to learn a new ballroom or Latin dance every week, with the odd speciality routine thrown in for good measure (which means we could well be treated to a Grease revival at some point).

Which he’ll then have to perform every week, on live TV, in front of judges and an audience, in a sequined, occasionally revealing costume, until he’s booted out by the public and loses a dance-off against an exhausted, emotionally drained radio presenter.

> “It’s always been the same Peter Sagan”: Three-time world champion talks retirement, pressure, the peloton’s “loss of respect”, and being cycling’s greatest showman in exclusive interview

Of course, during his 15-year pro career, Sagan – a record seven-time winner of the Tour de France’s green jersey – earned a reputation as one of cycling’s greatest showmen, with his swashbuckling, aggressive style, elaborate celebrations, and mountain-top wheelies. So, in theory anyway, he should be at home on the ballroom floor.

And with the show scheduled to start in under two months, the former Bora-Hansgrohe star has started his training early, with a social media post revealing that he’s already working on his ballroom frame:

Posture, posture, posture!

It remains to be seen, however, whether performing the Quickstep will give him horrific flashbacks to being surrounded by a squad of burly Belgians clad in blue on the cobbles of Flanders.

In a statement announcing his arrival on the dancefloor, Sagan admitted that, when he was first approached to take part in the show, he wasn’t entirely convinced that it was the best way to spend his first year of retirement.

“When I received an offer to be part of Let’s Dance my first reaction was definitely ‘no!!!’,” he said on Instagram.

(ASO/Pauline Ballet)

“That’s because I’ve never danced and I couldn’t even imagine I could. But since I like to watch dancing, like this, and I like for example even theatre, so I started to think about it a little.

“At the same time, this offer came actually at the right time, as I have closed the sporting chapter and I can devote myself to the preparation practically fully. I wouldn’t go in without enough time to train.

“Because when it comes to dancing – at least on the level of my dancing idol, Patrick Swayze – I have absolutely no expectations, but I’m really excited for this new experience, planning to enjoy it and put on a big show!”

(Michal Cerveny/SWpix.com)

Of course, Sagan isn’t the first retired pro to take part in a celebrity dancing programme – in fact, the dancing cyclist on TV has become something of a staple over the past two decades.

So, to mark the cha-cha-chaing post-cycling rebirth of Peter ‘Swayze’ Sagan, here are a few of the pros who have swapped the peloton for the ballroom, and the Lycra for… well, more Lycra:

Mario Cipollini (2005)

Before making a short-lived comeback with the ill-fated, garishly-attired Rock Racing team in 2008, the self-styled Lion King took to the floor – often with very few clothes – for the second edition of the Italian Dancing with the Stars.

The controversial sprinter lasted until week six of the competition, but packed in quite a few memorable routines before being eliminated (including one where he dangled from some very long scarves for the entire dance). This is one of the, ahem, tamer routines he performed:

Michael Rasmussen (2010)

The controversial climber (you’ll start to see a pattern emerging here) entered the Danish version of Strictly three years after he was ignominiously expelled from the Tour de France while wearing the yellow jersey.

He only made it to week six too, but it wasn’t all bad news for the Chicken. He struck up a friendship with fellow celebrity dancer Christina Hembo during the show, and she agreed to sponsor a new professional continental team, which was used as a vehicle for Rasmussen’s largely ignored return to the peloton in 2011.

Victoria Pendleton (2012)

Following on from a successful farewell Olympics in London, Pendleton signed up for the tenth season of Strictly that autumn, where she was partnered with loudmouth Aussie Brendan Cole (I’m sure she wasn’t used to that kind of character at British Cycling…).

Despite never setting the dancefloor alight in the same way she did the track, Pendleton finished a respectable eighth in the competition.

Bernhard Kohl (2021)

Another rider busted during the scandal-laden 2000s – though considering it was the summer of 2008, and Ricco and Saunier Duval, Kohl looked like a choir boy in comparison – the disgraced former Tour podium finisher and King of the Mountains is the most successful of our dancing former pros, making the final of the Austrian show Dancing Stars in 2021.

His final show dance even featured references to his career and subsequent fall from grace. Unfortunately for Bernie, like the 2008 Tour, he had to settle for the lower steps of the podium.

Nicolas Roche (2022)

While, how can I say this… not the most fluid dancer to ever grace the ballroom (especially when it came to the Latin numbers), Roche more than made up for that with dedication, a very passable ballroom frame, and a penchant for wearing completely unbuttoned shirts. Something for the Irish Mammies, alright?

In fact, of all the celebrities taking part in the fifth series of Ireland’s Dancing with the Stars, Roche most embodied that dreaded J-word (journey, for anyone unaware of reality TV clichés).

After a very shaky start, he even managed to reach the quarter-final, finishing sixth overall, just one place lower than his best ever GC position at the Vuelta, fifth in 2013 (yes, I am comparing a grand tour to a celebrity dance competition).

Roche described the experience as “life-changing” and later wrote in his diary for the Irish Independent that “I was never going to be Patrick Swayze, but I’d do it all again in a heartbeat”. Aww.

Jody Cundy (2023)

The Paralympic track legend is the only rider on this list to cram in learning how to dance while still racing at the highest level, his stint on Strictly sandwiched between securing his 20th rainbow jersey in Glasgow and bagging another world title in Rio and a sixth Olympic gold in Paris.

Perhaps fortunately for the 46-year-old’s medal prospects, his spell on the show – which saw him paired with reigning champion Jowita Przystal – was relatively brief, losing the week four dance-off after finishing bottom of the leaderboard two weeks running. Who knows what might have happened if he’d made the final?

And, before we forget, Sagan isn’t just following in the footsteps of his fellow dancing pros. Last year, Wout van Aert arguably grabbed the gong for ‘most memorable cycling appearance on a reality competition show’ by blasting out a version of Blur’s Song 2 – while dressed as a giant, crime-fighting squirrel on the Flemish version of the Masked Singer:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Wout van Aert (@woutvanaert)

Not that Van Aert was the first to take part in TV’s most ridiculous format, either. Step forward Nairo ‘the Chameleon’ Quintana:

His best performance of the 2020s? What, too harsh?

Anyway, with Sagan set to spend the next few weeks, or months, perfecting his heel leads, let’s take one more look at his unforgettable turn as Danny Zuko:

Right, I’m off to find out how to stream Slovakian TV. Anyone got a decent VPN?