News

For the second year in a row, reigning Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar (1200) has declined to take part in the two WorldTour races traditionally used to prepare for the Tour (the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse) to race on home soil, in Slovenia. The Tour of Slovenia is a lower level race, integrated into the ProSeries (second category in world cycling), but it seems that for Pogačar the formula works perfectly.

Route

This edition of the Tour of Slovenia is made up of 5 stages. The first and third offer mid-mountain profiles that may seem ideal for a breakaway, although Tadej Pogačar (1200)’s UAE Team Emirates may want to control the race from day one. The queen stage is the fourth, with the summit finish in Velika Planina (7.7 km at 7.9%), and it will undoubtedly be decisive for the general classification. Stages 2 and 5 are the two opportunities for partial victory for the sprinters, although the fifth includes the Trska Gora climb (1.3 km at 10.6%) 10 km from the finish line, which can be a good place for a late attack.

Favorites

Tadej Pogačar (1200) is the top favorite for the general classification, way ahead from the rest of contenders. Perhaps his main rivals may be the Bahrain-Victorious duo formed by Matej Mohorič (800) and Damiano Caruso (600), although it seems very unlikely that either of them can beat Pogačar. We are facing one of the lowest level starting lists of the year, where only 4 WorldTeam category teams will participate. Therefore, it is not ruled out that one of Pogačar's teammates in the UAE Team Emirates could make a good position in the general classification and even seek the podium, as Diego Ulissi (1000) did last year.

On the sprint stages, Tim Merlier (800) and Dylan Groenewegen (400) are the two fastest men on paper.