STA, 20 September 2020 - A new cycling champion is to be crowned as Slovenian Tadej Pogačar is set to win the Tour de France in Paris later today. While Primož Roglič led for much of the world's most prestigious race as a strong favourite, his younger compatriot put on a dramatic turn in Saturday's stage, and the pair secured a historic double victory.

Despite placing second overall, Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) remains a key name of this year's Tour, so the U-turn in the penultimate stage could not spoil Slovenia's celebrations.

Yet a new star is being born as Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) took the yellow jersey from Roglič after he had held it for a dozen days, making Slovenian and Tour de France history.

"Nailing first and second in the biggest bike race in the world is a huge step for one of the smallest cycle racing nations," is how The Guardian put it today.

The time trial brought the 21-year-old from the town of Komenda, some 20 km north of Ljubljana, a 59-second lead on Roglič, and somewhat unexpectedly, even for Pogačar himself, the overall victory.

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Slovenian smiles#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/jwfeKP832M

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 20, 2020

"Incredible. Nobody expected what happened on Saturday. Nobody imagined he could take a minute away from Roglič and add another one," Miha Koncilija, Pogačar's first-ever coach, told the STA today.

Twitter went crazy last evening and Pogačar is being praised around the globe, with some media labelling his performance a historic turnaround and the overall victory one of the biggest achievements in the Tour's 117-year history.

Although his talent had not passed unnoticed, only few had dared to think Pogačar would rise to the stars so quickly.

Being a 2020 Tour de France debutant, his dream had been not to win the race, but to race in it in the first place.

Almost a one minute-lead before yesterday's 36-kilometre time trial should have sufficed for Roglič to keep the yellow jersey.

However, the 30-year old rider, who claimed his first Grand Tour victory in 2019's Vuelta a Espana, had a bad day - his performance was not the best and his compatriot rival was doing brilliantly.

The surprising development took many in Slovenia by surprise and many experience a feeling of injustice, given that Roglič pedalled exceptionally for three weeks, but eventually experienced, despite the second place, a painful defeat.

"We all saw how hard it was for Primož. The entire team had worked hard for his success, they had everything under control, and then one bad day spoils it all. It's hard. Of course we're thrilled, but still the whole thing is a bit bittersweet," said Koncilija.

"Roglič was the best rider throughout the race, he had an excellent team. So I respect him, he is really a good friend and I too feel his defeat. But this is part of racing, we all try to win in the end," is how Pogačar summed up the dramatic turnaround in the last serious stage before today's largely exhibition one.

A day before he turns 22, Pogačar is set to become the second youngest Tour de France winner and the youngest this century.

Despite comparisons with some of the cycling greats such as Belgium's Eddy Merckx, he remains modest, hardly thinking about them.

Asked by journalists to tell them something about himself after yesterday's victory, he said: "I'm a young guy from Komenda. I have two sisters and a brother. I don't know what else to say - I enjoy life. Small things are important to me. This stage is definitely too big for me."

He described his felling about the victory similarly: "This morning I was happy to be in second place. Then I had a really good day and it transpired that I won. I'm very happy."

He thanked his UAE Emirates team for giving him the opportunity to race at the Tour and his parents for passing on their good genes which enable him to regenerate fast.

His Tour victory will go down in history as the biggest achievement in Slovenian cycling, while the double victory inspires even more pride among Slovenian fans.

Many have arrived in Paris for the finale, including almost 400 on two charter flights, as well as President Borut Pahor and Foreign Minister Anže Logar.

Commenting on the Tour even before Pogačar overtook Roglič, Slovenian Cycling Association vice-president Martin Hvastija said: "My view of the Tour? Things seem pretty ... surreal. I feel like I'm in a parallel world."

STA, 19 September 2020 - Slovenians Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič reigned supreme at Saturday's decisive stage of the 107th Tour de France with Pogačar becoming the big winner after a surprise twist at the only time trial of the race. After making up for Roglič's 57-second lead, the 21-year-old Pogačar became the second youngest winner of the Tour.

Bagging his third stage victory at the Tour, Pogačar took the yellow jersey, beating Roglič by almost two minutes.

Roglič, visibly exhausted, finished fifth after the 36.2km course from Lure to La Planche des belles filles, to take the second place overall.

"I think I'm dreaming. I really don't know what to say," Pogačar said in his first statement after the race. "I'm really proud of the team. They did a really great job," he added.

STA, 17 September 2020 - Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar, the first- and second-placed riders in this year's Tour de France, braved what was the final tough stage in the Alps on Thursday without major difficulties, reaffirming the likelihood of a historic double Slovenian victory in the general classification.

Finishing fourth in today's 168km stage from Meribel to La Roche-sur-Forontoday in a group arriving just under two minutes behind stage winner Michal Kwiatkowski of Poland, Roglič retained the yellow jersey and his 57 seconds lead on Pogačar.

Pogačar, the best young rider at the Tour, was fifth today. He lost his polka dot jersey of the best climber to Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz, who finished second today.

With a relatively easy stage scheduled for Friday and the final stage to Paris on Sunday, the winner of this year's Tour is likely to be determined in Saturday's 36-kilometre time trail with a summit finish at Planche des Belles Filles.

Roglič and Pogačar are both considered strong time trial riders, stronger than Colombia's Miguel Angel Lopez, who is placed third, one minute and 27 seconds behind Roglič.

STA, 13 September 2020 - Slovenian riders claimed a third double win at the Tour de France as Tadej Pogačar won the 15th stage of the race and Primož Roglič came in second, keeping the overall leader's yellow jersey. Colombian Egan Bernal, the defending champion, has been left in the dust by Roglič's Jumbo-Visma team.

During the summit finish atop the Grand Colombier, Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) was left far behind and out of the race for the overall win, losing seven minutes and 20 seconds.

Jumbo-Visma set a blistering pace, with Roglič at the helm, however Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) was the only one able to outmatch him at today's 174.5-km stage, which featured three steep climbs.

The 21-year-old, wearing the young rider leader's white jersey, now sits only 40 seconds behind Roglič and his yellow jersey.

"So far, Roglič has seemed unstoppable; today broke Bernal, perhaps on another day, it will be me or Roglič. We can't know that for sure," said Pogačar, who is now the youngest rider to have bagged two stage wins in the past 86 years of the race, according to RTV Slovenija data. He also vowed to keep up the pace.

Roglič meanwhile thanked his team and pointed out that the key stages were yet to come. "It would have been good if I had gained four seconds, but I was too short and Tadej was too good today. Nevertheless, I'm satisfied," said Roglič, who will don the yellow jersey for the seventh time on Tuesday.

Colombian Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling) ranks third in the overall standings, with a minute and 34 seconds between him and Roglič.

The 30-year-old became the first Slovenian ever to claim the leader's jersey of the most prestigious cycling race in the world a week ago.

This is also the first time ever that two Slovenian competitors top the overall rankings at the Tour.

Monday will be a rest day for the riders and a third series of coronavirus tests will be performed.

STA, 11 September 2020 - Slovenian riders Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar took the top two positions in the overall standings at the Tour de France on Friday after finishing the 13th stage of the race well ahead of the top contenders for the overall win.

Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), who has held the yellow jersey since stage nine, and Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who was seventh heading into today's stage, finished six minutes behind the stage winner Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling).

But more importantly, they left many top riders far behind, allowing Roglič to more than double his overall lead to 44 seconds and Pogačar to jump to second place in what was a tricky stage with a total elevation gain of 4400 metres.

This is the first time ever that two Slovenian competitors top the overall rankings at the Tour. The pair, sometimes referred to as Rog & Pog, already made Slovenian cycling history in previous stages, finishing two of them as the first and second-placed.

STA, 6 September - Slovenian riders made history at the Tour de France yet again as Tadej Pogačar won the 9th stage and Primož Roglič came in second to take the overall leader's yellow jersey.

Swiss rider Marc Hirschi (Sunweb) made an escape 50 kilometres into the 153-kilometre mountainous stage between Pau and Laruns, only to get caught up by Roglič (Jumbo Visma), Pogačar (UAE), Egan Bernal (Ineos) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren) 1.7 kilometre ahead of the finish line.

The devilish tempo was dictated by Roglič, a pre-race favourite for the overall victory, who secured the virtual yellow jersey on the climb to the Marie Blanque pass, while Hirschi was the first to break into sprint.

Although the Swiss was in the best position to win the stage, Pogačar blasted past him, followed by Roglič, who squeezed ahead by a whisker just before the finish line, so Hirschi had to settle for the third.

The finish in Laruns was where Roglič won his second Tour de France stage win two years ago for the 4th spot overall. This time he has become the first Slovenian ever to claim the leader's jersey of the most prestigious cycling race in the world.

"The yellow jersey is great. It's our goal and I hope to have it on in Paris. This was definitely a good stage for us," Roglič, 30, commented for RTV Slovenija, after taking the leader's jersey off Briton Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).

Overall, Roglič is now 21 seconds ahead of Columbian Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and 28 seconds ahead of France's Guillaume Martin (Cofidis). Pogačar advanced to 7th overall with a lag of 44 seconds behind his compatriot.

Roglič lauded his young rival. "I'd like congratulate Tadej first, today we changed places from the fourth stage. He is really strong," he said, referring to the first Slovenian double win at this year's Tour. This is their third such feat including the Tour of Spain last year.

"It'd be great if everything was so easy. What can I say, Slovenians have obviously become a cycling powerhouse, just like the Colombians," he said.

"I only wanted to gain as much time as possible overall, but I saw we didn't gain much compared to competition. That's why I tried to get the bonus seconds in the last few metres. I don't really know how I did it, I just sprinted as fast as I could," Pogačar commented on his feat.

STA, 1 September 2020 - Slovenia's cycling star Primož Roglič won the fourth stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday, while Tadej Pogačar in second place helped secure a historic double win for Slovenia.

Roglič, the Vuelta a Espana champion who is also among the prime candidates for final overall victory at the Tour, won the uphill sprint in Orcieres-Merlette in the Alps after 160.5 kilometres of racing that began in Sisteron.

While this is the third individual stage victory at the Tour for Roglič, who also clinched wins in 2017 and 2018, the 30-year-old did not yet secure the yellow jersey of the overall leader.

The Jumbo-Visma captain advanced to third place, three seconds behind Britain's Adam Yates and seven seconds behind French rider Julian Alaphilippe.

"It was quite a fast day actually, quite hard, but the guys did a very good job again, I was in a good position all along. At the end I was able to deliver a nice sprint, so I'm very happy," Roglič said after the race.

He added he did not really care that the yellow jersey was not his yet. What is important is that "we stayed safe and at the end even won".

As for his continuing recovery after a crash two weeks ago, he said "I'm coming back ... I feel a little better every day, it's nice to ride a bike again".

Meanwhile, Pogačar, a 21-year-old member of UAE Team Emirates, consolidated his fourth position overall and donned the white jersey of the best young rider.

According to public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, Pogačar became the youngest holder of the white jersey in the last 32 years.

STA, 4 February 2020 - Cyclist Primož Roglič, the winner of the Tour of Spain, and world champion kayaker Eva Terčelj are the winners of the Bloudek Prizes for sporting achievements, the highest national awards for current and lifetime success in sports.

 Having already been named Athlete of the Year by Slovenian sports journalists, Roglič, 30, was honoured by the state for the first ever victory by a Slovenian in one of the top cycling races in the world, the Vuelta, last year.

The same year he also finished third in the Giro d'Italia, another Grand Tour race, and three more major races. "Roglič proves again and again that he is a cycling champion," the jury said.

Terčelj, 28, secured the accolade among women for winning the K1 event at the Whitewater World Championship in September 2019, a career high that the jury pointed out also earned her a slot at the Tokyo Olympics this year.

Three lifetime achievement awards were also conferred as long-time Faculty of Sport professor Milan Žvan, swimming coach Vladimir Čermak and chess official Boris Kutin were honoured for decades-long careers in sports.

STA, 17 December - Cyclist Primož Roglič, sport climber Janja Garnbret and the men's national volleyball team are the winners of the main awards conferred by the Association of Sports Journalists as the 2019 Athlete of the Year ceremony was held in Ljubljana on Tuesday evening.

Roglič, who entered the world elite this year by finishing 3rd overall at the Giro d'Italia and winning the Vuelta a Espana to become the first Slovenian ever to win a Grand Tour race, scored 272 points from 105 Slovenian sport journalists.

Source: Twitter

All our stories on Roglič can be found here

He finished ahead of last year's winner of the Athlete of the Year award for men, basketball player Luka Dončić. The NBA Rookie of the Year received 200 points, while third place went to world motocross champion Tim Gajser (106).

The association noted that "in the fourth season among the elite, [Roglič] only upgraded his previous achievements" and ended the season as the first-ranked cyclist in the prestigious ProCyclingStats (PCS) raking.

Garnbret defended last year's title of the Athlete of the Year among women, winning 269 points ahead of Alpine skier Ilka Štuhec (208), the world downhill champion, and world slalom canoe champion Eva Terčelj (78).

In August, Garnbret won gold medals in bouldering, lead and the combined at the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Japan to become the first ever climber to complete a hat trick in a single championship.

"A majority of her achievements, which have already made history, come with a note that she was the first or youngest to make them," the sports journalist association said about the 20-year-old.

Source: Twitter

 All our stories on Garnbret can be found here

In line with expectations, the Slovenian men's national volleyball team was declared the best team this year, winning 95 out of the possible 105 votes. The award comes after they won silver at the European Championships in September, co-hosted by Ljubljana.

"With their performances, they again unified the Slovenian nation by filling up the Stožice Arena and kept sport lovers in front of their television screens," the association said about the improbable run made by the volleyball players.

The most promising young athlete is tennis player Kaja Juvan, who played in the second round of Wimbledon and peaked at No. 106 in the WTA rankings this season. "The goals in the coming season are much higher," the association said.

Biathlete Alex Cisar won the fair play award for his display of sportsmanship in a Slovenian Cup race in Pokljuka. He gave fellow competitor Tilen Gregorka his ski stick after Gregorka lost one of his own in a collision with Cisar.

STA, 5 October 2019 - Slovenian cyclist Primož Roglič of the Dutch team Team Jumbo-Visma won the single-stage Giro d'Emillia race on Saturday to add to his numerous feats this year, which include the overall win at the prestigious Vuelta a Espana.

The Giro dell'Emilia is held annually in Bologna, Italy. Since 2005, it has been organised as a second-tier event organised by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as part of the UCI Europe Tour.

Roglič won the 103rd edition of the race, a 207-km stage between Bologna and San Luca, finishing 15 seconds ahead Michael Woods of Canada and Sergio Higuita of Colombia.

The first Slovenian to win this traditional race has won this season the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour de Romandie and Vuelta a Espana to establish himself as one of the finest riders in the world at the moment.

Roglič already won the stage of this year's Giro d'Italia, in which he finished third, which featured the same climb as the Giro d'Emillia.

The last time I was here I won, and for this reason I certainly like San Luca very much," said the 29-year-old, who will take part in another two races before the end of the season - in Varese and Lombardy.