New title for Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian clinched his second national title after winning the time trial on Thursday. The cyclist won the road race in the Road Cycling Championships one week before the start of the Tour de France.
And two: after the time trial on Thursday, the double winner of the Tour de France Tadej Pogacar won Sunday in the road race of the Slovenian Road Cycling Championships one week before the start of the Grande Boucle. The 24-year-old prodigy (UAE) attacked on the first lap of the 156-kilometre course in Radovljica, neck and neck with Luka Mezgec (Jayco-AlUla).
“Happy to have succeeded”
Under a bright sun and over 30 degrees, the two quickly outdistanced the rest of the peloton before Pogacar let go of his opponent in the last kilometer. He finally crossed the finish line 38 seconds ahead of Mezgec and almost five minutes over Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), who completed the podium. “I’m happy to have succeeded. It was a good test before the Tour. My legs were pretty solid,” reacted the winner on Slovenian public television. “Now I’m going to rest before heading to Bilbao for the start,” he added. This is his first national title in this event, after already three successes in the time trial (2019, 2020 and 2023).
On Thursday, Pogacar had won five minutes ahead of his runner-up as he returned to competition after his fall and broken wrist on April 23 during the classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège. “Right now I just have to make sure I don’t fall or hit a bone,” he said.
“My injury bothers me a bit on technical aspects, but it doesn’t bother my legs, and I was able to train well.” Pogacar, who notably flew over Paris-Nice this year and won the Tour of Flanders, has made the Tour de France (July 1 to 23) his big goal for the season.