Peter Sagan's 3rd world title wins Most Memorable Moment in Men's Cycling in 2017 Cyclingnews poll

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Peter Sagan won his third consecutive world title in Bergen with a perfectly timed bike throw to beat Alexander Kristoff and Michael Matthews. He has won the Cyclingnews Most Memorable Moment in Men's Cycling of 2017 in a similar way, beating Alberto Contador's stage victory on the Angliru at the Vuelta a España by just 90 votes.

Sagan's third world title victory secured him 4,092 votes, with Contador's sign-off victory garnering 4,002 votes. That put both on 20 per cent of the overall vote but Sagan edged it just like he does so often in sprint finishes.

Over 20,000 people voted in this year's Cyclingnews Reader Poll, which asked readers to decide on the Men's and Women's Most Memorable Moment of this year.

Tom Dumoulin's unscheduled toilet stop on the Stelvio stage of the Giro d'Italia finished third behind Sagan and Contador, securing 15 per cent of the vote. Chris Froome completing the Tour-Vuelta double captured 13 per cent, while Sagan's disqualification from the Tour de France for sparking Mark Cavendish’s crash on stage 5 was the fifth biggest moment with 12 per cent.

Sagan's two top-five results in Most Memorable Moment in Men's Cycling this year confirms that he is arguably the biggest name in the sport, when he wins and even when he doesn’t.

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider won 12 races in 2017 but missed out in the major Spring Classics. Milan-San Remo was a point in case. He was clearly the strongest but showed his hand with his attack on the Poggio and by leading out the sprint. Michal Kwiatkowski took advantage to beat him and win on the Via Roma.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) beat Sagan at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and and again at Gent-Wevelgem, where Sagan finished third as his breakaway companions were cautious about working with him and losing in the sprint. Sagan then crashed spectacularly and brought down Van Avermaet during the Tour of Flanders after catching a spectator's coat with his handlebars.

Sagan's lack of solid team support from Bora-Hansgrohe often left him exposed to his rivals' tactics, leading to some fascinating tactical races and subsequently interesting post-race interviews.

Sagan tried his best and used his talents when possible but also confirmed he was far from perfect, and beatable. That arguably made many of his biggest moments of the season even more memorable.

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