Considered a huge favorite ahead of most of the classics in cycling calendar, Peter Sagan was rather an outsider to excel on the highly demanding Hell of the North parcours. Despite a huge amount of bad luck, the Cannondale leader managed to bounce back from him Ronde van Vlaanderen disappointment and finished sixth, pleased with valuable experience gained for the future.

Things weren’t panning out perfectly well for Sagan in the early stages of the race yesterday, as the 24-year old Slovak seemed rather discouraged while being forced to constantly chase the peloton following bike changes. Despite a huge amount of bad luck, however, the Cannondale leader managed to eventually join the leaders group and once he did, an eagerness for some aggressive racing has been rediscovered.

Failing to respond when Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) launched his attack, Sagan chased the four-man group and counter-attacked right after joining them. Finding a right pace inside the final 30 kilometers of racing, the 24-year old Slovak kept on pushing to eventually catch a breakaway led by irritated Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and quickly leave behind escapees, certainly fatigued after struggling in the headwind for many kilometers.

"Today was quite a hard day. I had to change my bike three times and I was always having to chase back on," a mud-encrusted Sagan said after rolling to a halt in the Roubaix velodrome. "In the end, I decided to attack to go at a regular pace myself."

However, such a huge effort proved costly for the Cannondale leader, as he was reeled in by the leaders group on the infamous Carrefour de l’Abre pave section and found himself unable to sprint for a podium spot in the finale on the Roubaix velodrome.

"I managed to get back on in front, but given the efforts I had to make all day I was just glad to get to the velodrome here almost with the leaders," said Sagan, who was unable to respond when winner Niki Terpstra clipped off the front with five kilometres to go, and unable, too, to compete with John Degenkolb and Cancellara in the sprint for second place.

"In the end, I had cramps as well and I couldn't do a good sprint. I had lost a lot of energy before that also because when I was chasing to catch Boonen's group with the Belkin rider [Maarten Wynants], I had to do almost all the work. But so be it," he said. 

Sagan was quick to turn down all suggestions that he needed a good result in the Paris-Roubaix to make up for not exactly living up to huge expectations in the Milano-Sanremo and Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Even without a victory or a podium spot in the Hell of the North this season, the 24-year old Slovak was pleased with gaining a valuable experience and confident about his chances to win the cobbled monument in the future.

"Well, I'm happy today even if I didn't get the win or a top three place, because it was a demonstration."

"Certainly, I'm beginning to think so," Sagan said about a possibility to win the race one day, before adding pointedly: "In any case, after a Tour of Flanders like last week, I've shown that I can do well, no?"