Peter Sagan with Fernando Alonso(Image credit: Ferrari)
Peter Sagan (Cannondale) looking confident for stage wins this week.(Image credit: Jonathan Devich)
Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain) earned the silver medal but surely wonders what might have been after losing a close sprint to Rui Costa for the world championship(Image credit: Sirotti)
Peter Sagan and Joaquim Rodriguez put the disappointment of the world championships behind them on Monday by spending a day at the Ferrari factory with Fernando Alonso.
The Spanish Formula One pilot invited them to Maranello during the Elite men's road race as he began to lay the foundations for his professional team. Following the collapse of talks with the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, Alonso has said his team will begin racing in 2015. He described Sagan as 'the best rider in the world' when speaking to Cyclingnews before the start of the road race on Sunday.
During the visit to the Ferrari factory, Sagan and Rodriguez saw where the Ferrari sports cars are built, visited the Formula 1 workshop, the Ferrari museum and even did several laps in a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta with Alonso.
“It was a great day. To get to know Fernando and then to come here to Maranello in the space of two days: I could never even have dreamed of something like that,” Sagan told Ferrari.com.
“He came to introduce himself and then he invited me to see where the Ferraris are built," said Sagan. "For someone like me, who is almost more of a fan of cars than bikes, it was incredible to be able to visit the factory and the museum!”
Rodriguez was in tears after missing out of the world title in Florence on Sunday to Rui Costa, but seemed happier after a lap of the track in a Ferrari with Alonso.
“I am from Barcelona and my house is just a few kilometres from Montmelò: you can hear the sound of the engines when they are on the track and, once, I went to the circuit for the Spanish Grand Prix. I had the chance to meet him there and he was very kind to me," Rodriguez said.
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"In Florence he told me that I could join him in Maranello to go and visit the factory together with him before he left for Korea and I certainly wasn’t going to miss that chance: that was a fantastic gift from him. I enjoyed driving the F12 but it was even more amazing to do it with him at the wheel."
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
