"This is no longer a fairy tale or a dream, all this is reality. One of the biggest stories is currently happening in Slovenian sport," wrote the biggest daily newspaper "Delo" after the next double victory in the 107th Tour de France. For the newspaper "Vecer" it is a "dream duel" between yellow bearer Primoz Roglic and his young rival Tadej Pogacar.
Tiny Slovenia, a country with just two million inhabitants and a penchant for football and winter sports, rules the cycling world. How is this possible? "The result of hard work," says 21-year-old Tour debutant Pogacar. After his triumph on the Grand Colombier, he is the youngest rider in 86 years to win two Tour stages in one year. In the overall standings, he is only 40 seconds behind Roglic. The rest, in particular last year's winner Egan Bernal, have virtually been left behind.
Doubts also accompany the miraculous rise to fame of the two Slovenian stars. It is well known that some leads in the blood doping scandal surrounding the Erfurt sports physician Mark S. lead to Slovenia. However, Pogacar and Roglic have not yet been involved. Nevertheless, the reputation of old or current companions is not entirely spotless. Pogacar's discoverer Andrej Hauptman, for example, was excluded from his active career before the start of the 2000 Tour because his haematocrit level was over 50 per cent.
And cycling manager Milan Erzen was investigated by the UCI for suspected links to a doctor involved in Operation Aderlass. Erzen was head coach of the lower-ranking Adria Mobil team in 2013, when Roglic began his career. Questions about doping bounce off the former ski jumper, as do the few attacks from his rivals. "From my side, you can trust me. I have nothing to hide," said Roglic.
Roglic has been wearing the yellow jersey since the ninth stage. This is likely to remain the case until Paris, unless his compatriot gets in his way. "We are rivals and also friends. We come from the same country, but we both want to win on the bike," says Roglic, describing their relationship. Sometimes they even train together, although a session can be "tough", adds Pogacar.
Two friends, two compatriots, two rivals - but also fundamentally different. Roglic only came to cycling at the age of 26 after ending his ski jumping career. A late starter, in contrast to Pogacar, who has been pedalling passionately since the age of nine. The boy from Komenda has always been ahead of his time. In his youth, he regularly outpaced his older rivals. And last year, he won three stages of the Vuelta, something that no rider before him had ever achieved in a grand tour at the age of 20. The organisers of the Tour of California even had to change the award ceremony for Pogacar. Because he was not yet 21, he was denied the champagne bottle.
And their riding styles could hardly be more different. Roglic always wants to have everything under control with his super team Jumbo-Visma. He strictly follows a plan. This is how he introduced himself to the team organisers at the end of 2015. He wanted to win the Tour in five years. The plan seems to be working. However, Pogacar only knows the motto "all or nothing". Attack whenever possible. "What do I have to lose?" says the youngster and challenged Roglic on the second rest day: "The battle for yellow is not over yet. If I have the chance to win, I will seize the opportunity." Similarly, last year he stormed to third place overall with his solo victory on the penultimate stage of the Vuelta.
Pogacar was also the only rider at this year's Tour to take time off Roglic - apart from bonus seconds. On the eighth stage, he took 40 seconds out of Roglic and Co. when he stormed up the Col de Peyresourde in record time. The old record was held by the convicted doping offenders Alexander Vinokourov and Iban Mayo from 2003.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:200914-99-553857/6
