Cyclist Tadej Pogacar and Urska Zigart (X)
According to a report by the BBC, Pogacar was not happy with the OKS not selecting his girlfriend Urska Zigart for the Paris Olympics.
Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar has pulled out from the Paris Olympics, scheduled to commence on July 26. The 25-year-old recently triumphed at the Tour de France to secure his third title. Pogacar has withdrawn his name from the Olympic Games, citing “extreme fatigue”, the Slovenian Olympic Committee (OKS) confirmed in an official statement. It, however, was perhaps not the sole reason behind his decision.
According to a report by the BBC, Pogacar was not happy with the OKS not selecting his girlfriend Urska Zigart for the Paris Olympics. Ahead of the event, Pogacar addressed the topic of his girlfriend’s snub from the Paris Olympics roster. “It’s not the main reason, but for sure it didn’t help. I think she (Urska Zigart) deserves her spot. She’s the double national champion in road race and time trial,” he was quoted as saying by the BBC.
Two women’s cyclists– Urska Pintar and Eugenia Bujak– will represent Slovenia at the Paris Olympics. Bujak, who is a six-time Slovenian champion, did not feature at the last year’s national championships. Urshka Zigart won the race, beating second-placed Pintar by 10 minutes and 47 seconds.
According to Tadej Pogacar, Urska Zigart was a key to Slovenia claiming two spots in the women’s cycling event at the upcoming edition of the Olympics. “She is the only woman cyclist in Slovenia who ever achieved the top 10 in week-long World Tour races. She did great in the last two years winning points for Slovenia and, without her, they wouldn’t have two spots in the road race,” Pogacar was quoted by the BBC as saying to the Dutch broadcaster NOS.
The Road Cycling events at the Paris Olympics will take place on 27 July, 3 August and 4 August. After skipping the Paris trip, Tadej Pogacar will now put his entire focus on the World Championships which will be hosted in Zurich later this year in September.
If he wins the world title, Tadej Pogacar will be the fourth cyclist to secure a Giro, Tour and World Championship victory in the same year. Earlier, Belgium’s Eddy Merckx, Ireland’s Stephen Roche and the Netherlands’ Annemiek van Vleuten have achieved this rare feat.
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