“No Urška, no Pogi”: Tadej Pogačar pulls out of Paris Olympics due to “being too tired” – as fans blame shock Urška Žigart omission for Tour de France winner’s absence; “Cyclists are now being protected to a ridiculous extent” + more on the live blog

The official line from the Slovenian camp may be that Tadej Pogačar – fresh from completing the first Giro-Tour double in 26 years while barely opening his mouth or breaking a sweat – has chosen to skip next week’s Olympic road events in Paris due to “fatigue”.

But over on Cycling Twitter, the blame for the now three-time Tour winner’s absence from Games has been laid squarely on the shoulders of Slovenia’s cycling officials, following their controversial decision earlier this month to omit Urška Žigart, the country’s top-ranked female rider (who just so happens to be Pogačar’s fiancée, in case you weren’t aware), from their road race and time trial squads.

 (ASO/Charly Lopez)

Last night, the Slovenia Olympic team confirmed that Pogačar – who was notably coy about his participation in Paris after sealing his Tour win in Nice on Sunday – has withdrawn from this year’s Olympics, where he was due to compete in the road race on 3 August, due to the accumulated fatigue of winning Strade Bianche, the Volta a Catalunya (plus three stages), Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro d’Italia (plus six stages), and the Tour de France (and another six stages) during one of the most remarkably dominant seasons cycling has ever seen.

The 25-year-old’s UAE Team Emirates colleague Doman Novak will replace him in the road race, where he will be joined by Matej Mohorič and Luka Mezgec.

(ASO/Billy Ceusters)

“The men’s cycling team selector unveils the names of the cyclists that will compete in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris,” the team said on social media last night.

“Unfortunately, Tadej Pogačar will not be among them, who cancelled his performance due to being too tired. He will be replaced by national team colleague Domen Novak. We wish Domen all the best and success.

“Once again, congratulations to the Tour de France winner for his third victory in the world’s most prestigious cycling race, and we hope he rests well and prepares for his next races.”

> "No words": Tadej Pogačar "so gutted" for double national champion Urška Žigart missing out on Olympic selection

While tiredness – and the fact that the punchy, Van der Poel-style Paris course doesn’t exactly suit Pogačar (who is targeting cycling’s Triple Crown at the very hilly worlds course in Zurich in September – is certainly understandable, many have pointed to his fiancée Žigart’s omission from Slovenia’s Olympic squad as the real motivating factor behind the Tour winner’s decision to rest up at home.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

The current Slovenian road and time trial champion, Jayco–AlUla rider Žigart was informed earlier this month that she would not be part of her country’s two-woman squad for the Games. Addressing the shock decision on Instagram, Pogačar said he had “no words” and was “so gutted” that the “double national champion and the best WorldTour rider in Slovenia was not selected for the Olympic Games”.

And two weeks later, coincidentally or otherwise, he was out.

“No Urška, no Pogi,” Mihai Simon wrote on Twitter/X after the news was confirmed. “It’s not a route for him indeed, but I think the main reason for skipping it is because his partner, Urška Žigart, was snubbed.

“The Slovenian Federation played with fire and got burned. In the end, smart decision by Tadej, the chances for medals in Paris (too flat routes) were not very high. He can now rest a bit together with Urška and then focus on World Champs and Lombardia.”

“That’s the last time they don’t select her,” added Freddie Evans.

(A.S.O./Charly Lopez)

And that sentiment was shared by plenty of Slovenian fans under the Olympic team’s posts.

“Whoever selected the women’s team needs to be fired immediately,” said one Pogi fan.

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!” added another.

“Of course he won’t go alone, if they left Urška out so badly,” said Darja. “He is a principled man and he will not tolerate such injustice. If both selectors were at least a little smart, they would talk a little about the composition of the teams. But if they are council f***s, they would wipe themselves with their nose for a medal.”

“He is riding a bike for himself, not the corrupt Slovenian Olympic committee,” add another Slovenian fan.

> "Never listen to Lance Armstrong about anything": Phil Gaimon hits back at disgraced cheat's "don't give them a reason to doubt you" warning to Tadej Pogačar

Of course, plenty on social media jumped to other conclusions as to why the best bike rider in the world would choose to skip the Olympics, but the lawyers said I can’t quote those on the live blog…

Ah, the good old Independent, opting for the slightly more moderate anti-cycling take and less obviously wrong speed guess than their more furious colleagues over at the Telegraph…

> Independent columnist downgrades speed of “Lyrca-clad red-light jumpers” from 52mph to 40mph

If you’re still feeling down after watching Mark Cavendish cross a finish line of a bike race for quite probably the final time in his illustrious career, I have some good news for you (if you live in the Netherlands or have some free time on your hands this week, that is).

Because the Manx Missile, fresh from leaving the Tour de France at the top after his record-breaking 35th stage win, is set to take part in two Dutch post-Tour criteriums, the traditional exhibition ‘races’ that populate the weeks after the Tour and act as a nice little additional earner for riders who impressed on the roads of France in July.

And tomorrow Cavendish will be thrilling some local fans in Chaam before riding in Heerlen on Friday evening, the crits’ organisers announced today.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“This is great for us and for the spectators who will soon come to Heerlen. With special thanks to Jos van de Mortel. Without him, the deal with Cavendish would never have been successful,” organiser Chris Tiekstra said, thanking Parkhotel Valkenburg owner Van de Mortel for helping sort Cavendish’s fee.

“Cavendish won the sprint on 3 July and thus reached a legendary number of 35 Tour victories. But he also won 17 stages in the Giro d’Italia and three in the Tour of Spain. A true cycling great who also competed in Heerlen in 2008.”

Cav will be joined in Heerlen by his Astana teammate Cees Bol and DSM’s breakout Tour rider Frank van den Broek.

Now I wonder how much the ferry across would be…?

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. 🥹 RaceTV is taking a break now, but fear not, we’ll be back for the Tour de France Femmes! 🩷

Watch the last episode of #RaceTV from the 2024 Tour. Out now 🦅https://t.co/RACFCe5qkR#efprocycling #tdf2024 pic.twitter.com/iUNWBzPIov

— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) July 23, 2024

And no, I’m not telling you when I appear…

The Tour de France may be over, but don’t fear – the real epic bike race taking place in Europe has only just begun.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Robin Gemperle (@robingemperle)

The tenth edition of the Transcontinental, the mammoth self-supported, non-stop race from one side of Europe to the other, got underway in Roubaix two days ago, where some of the world’s finest ultra-distance riders set out on a 4,000km journey across the continent to Istanbul.

And it’s safe to say the early leaders are flying. Robin Gemperle, who chose a northern route from Roubaix through the Netherlands while most opted to head south through Luxembourg, is the leading dot on TCR’s website, covering his first 1,130km in an astonishing average moving speed of 30.7kph (and an all-in average pace of 26.6kph, including a five-hour rest).

Later today, Gemperle and his fellow pace setters will hit the mandatory route set out by the organisers before their first checkpoint in Slovenia.

Who knows, maybe Pogi will join them for the rest of the ride to Turkey? Or maybe not…

Virtual reality cycle training has the “potential to change lives”, Bikeability says, after a group of secondary school pupils in Bournemouth became the first in the UK to trial the indoor, tablet-based, “immersive” bike safety session.

The ‘Group-Based VR Immersive Cycle Training Project’ was created by Dr Dan Bishop, a Senior Lecturer at Brunel University, in collaboration with the Bikeability Trust, and was first trialled last week by year seven students at the Bourne Academy.

Each student at the session was given a tablet to experience a 360-degree view of different road-based cycling scenarios, as Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole Council’s Bikeability instructors provided information about “observation, communication, position, and priorities”.

“This exciting project is the culmination of years of trialling and refinement, with significant input from the Trust’s development team, Bikeability instructors, children and their parents,” Dr Bishop said.

“This unique blend of academic and real-world riding expertise has led to the development of a rigorous and practical training protocol that has the potential to change lives.”

“Instructors can use the instructor manual, which summarises the 24 ‘group rides’, together with their knowledge of those rides, to tailor their training in a way that maximises young riders’ confidence and competence for riding independently on roads. Our intention is that this will lead to more children and young people cycling to school and signing up for advanced Bikeability training.”

Eleanor, a student who took part in the trial, said: “It made me feel like I was actually riding a bike down certain roads. I learnt a lot about which way to look, as well as things like major and minor roads.”

“Going forward, we want to deliver the immersive training to as many schools as possible to help embed the skills needed by students to make them more confident, experienced cyclists,” BCP Council Bikeability Instructor Graham Hurst added.

“This will help the school encourage more children to travel more safely and actively to school.”

The council’s Bikeability team says it is aiming to train 1,000 students using the immersive scheme before the end of March 2025, in support of the local authority’s aim to get 50 per cent of journeys walked, wheeled, or taken by public transport within the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole area by 2030.

In case you missed this over on Instagram during the weekend, here’s a snippet of the Tour de France’s famous publicity caravan in all its fuel-burning, fruit and veg-shaped glory on the Col de Braus:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by road.cc (@road.cc)

Surely this could be the future, one of smiling drivers in funny vehicles driving very slowly while respecting cyclists and ensuring everyone has a good time? (Although, I’m sure I spotted a few ‘distracted’ drivers in the caravan, too…)

In any case, here’s our haul from the Tour’s daily tat, sweets, swag, and washing powder sample parade:

Unfortunately, while we did get hold of a jazzy leopard-print sleep mask, we missed out on some of the most coveted of the Tour’s roadside projectiles, including the very cool FDJ tricolour caps and the Skoda green bucket hats.

Maybe I wasn’t dancing hard enough…

Endurance enthusiast and road.cc reviewer Matt Page, however, came away with quite the bounty the following day in Nice:

Not jealous, not jealous at all…