World champion Peter Sagan presented Pope Francis with a bicycle in the yellow and white papal colours during a visit to the Vatican on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Slovak was accompanied by his mother at the Pope’s weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square, and afterwards presented the pontiff with an autographed world champion cycling jersey and bicycle emblazoned with “Francesco”.
Sagan said that he hoped to ask the Pope to baptise his son Marlon, although it’s not clear if the three-time world champion managed to make this request.
The Bora-hansgrohe team rider won a stage and the points standings in the Tour Down Under last week.
The Slovak next travels for a high-altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain, before his onslaught in the first cobbled classic of the season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on February 24.
