Less than two weeks before the Tour de France, defending champion Tadej Pogacar had a successful dress rehearsal by winning the domestic Tour of Slovenia.
The 23-year-old Radstar also won the final stage over 155.7 kilometers from Vrhnika to Novo Mesto and didn’t let the overall victory be taken away from him.
Pogacar won the Tour of France in 2020 and 2021 and is the top favorite again this year. His compatriot Primoz Roglic is most likely to be expected to intervene in the fight for overall victory.
Pogacar now wants to concentrate entirely on the start of the tour in Copenhagen for the next few days and is not planning to take part in the national championships next weekend. Possibly also out of concern for Corona: Pogacar’s UAE teammate Mikkel Bjerg from Denmark had already tested positive on the Tour of Slovenia. As a precaution, his Norwegian roommate Vegard Stake Laengen also had to leave.