INSTEAD, THE TOUR DE FRANCE CHAMPION WILL REST, RELAX, AND RECOVER BEFORE THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN LATE SEPTEMBER.
One day after winning the 2024 Tour de France in Nice, France, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) announced he would not join the Slovenian team for the Paris Olympics. Pogačar, who finished in third place at the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo, was supposed to take on the road race on August 3, but Domen Novak will take his place instead.
“After an intense few months, I’m going to take a bit of rest and build up to the World Championships, where I look forward to wearing the Slovenian colors again with pride. I just want to say best of luck to Domen Novak, who will take my place in Paris, and to all the other athletes heading to the Olympics. I wish you the best!” Pogačar posted on social media.
The need for rest after smashing the 2024 Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France makes sense, so we’ll allow it. This was the first time a man had successfully pulled off the double since 1998. Pogi won the Giro by nearly ten minutes and the Tour by more than six minutes. He’s certainly earned some rest days.
And as if rest wasn’t reason enough not to make the trip to Paris, Pogačar’s fiancé Urška Žigart (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) was left off the roster for the Olympic Games, posing many questions on the team’s logic. Pogačar, Žigart’s agent, and many others expressed their disappointment in the team’s process.
Žigart is both the Slovenian national time trial and road race champion—having won the road race by more than ten minutes. She’s also the highest-ranked Slovenian rider. But she was left out of the two-rider team in favor of Eugenia Bujak and Urška Pintar. Pogačar posted during the Tour when the decision was made, “So gutted. No words.”
So, it is plausible that his decision had something to do with Žigart being snubbed. If so, we support it.
Pogačar and Žigart will make a trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital city, on Wednesday, July 24, where they will certainly be hugely celebrated.
In his post-race interview on Sunday in Nice, Pogačar said he wants to win the Rainbow Jersey at the World Championships on September 29. He also added that the Vuelta a España was not on his list this year.
“For sure, it crossed my mind to do the Vuelta. People tell you to do this or that, so it was there. But I’m trying to let it go in one ear and out the other. For me, putting a cherry on top of this season would be to have a really nice August, to relax a bit, to prepare well for the World Championships and then give it my all there.”
Leave a Reply