Wednesday, 11 October 2017: World cycling champion Peter Sagan will return to the Tour Down Under in January.

World cycling champion Peter Sagan will start his 2018 season at the Tour Down Under in Adelaide in January.

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Sagan rode the tour this year and finished 71st overall, more than 10 minutes behind Australian winner Richie Porte.

But he says the race is the perfect start to the UCI World Tour season.

"It has it all, a challenging and tough course, warm weather and the passionate fans that cheer for us day in day out no matter what," he said.

"It is important to get the season off to a good start and there is no better place to do this than South Australia at the Tour Down Under."

Sagan recently won his third consecutive world road race title, his victory coming after he was sensationally disqualified from the Tour de France in July over his involvement in a crash at a stage finish.

In the 2017 Tour Down Under he finished second on three of the six stages and race director Mike Turtur said he'll be keen to do better next year.

"I can't wait to see how next year's race will unfold, with Peter in the peloton," Turtur said.

"For any race organiser to have the rainbow jersey on the start line is a huge honour and to have Peter Sagan back is amazing.

"We expect a massive response from the fans now this news is confirmed."