Primož Roglič has won the Slovenian elite men’s road race title after dropping Tadej Pogačar on the 8km climb to the finish today.
Slovenia has not been as badly impacted by the Covid19
pandemic as other parts of Europe and so the championships were held today as
planned.
Most European nations would have promoted their title
races today, including Ireland, but for the Covid19 crisis.
Roglič (Jumbo Visma) and Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) were among a chase group that caught and passed the early breakaway in the 146km race.
The last of the escapees, Jan Tratnik (Bahrain McLaren),
was only overhauled on the final climb, with Roglič and Pogačar pressing clear
to fight it out.
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Towards the finish line on the 8km Ambrož pod Krvavec climb, Roglic looked by far the strongest and in the latter stages dropped Pogačar to win by 10 seconds. Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-McLaren) came through for 3rd place.
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“It is really wonderful that the situation allows us to finally race again and to do what we do best, racing our bikes," Roglič said after his victory, adding he hoped to take the TT crown next week.
“It was a tough race with a very tough final climb. Given the results in the spring, Tadej was the favourite and it was certainly not easy to beat him.
"I had (checked) the climb well in the past few days, so I knew where I had to attack. The fact that I take the victory here in my first race of the season feels very good.
"I am definitely not in top form yet, but I am already looking forward to the upcoming races. I also want to thank the team for making the effort to support me in Slovenia. That means a lot to me.”
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