Tadej Pogacar confirmed for Worlds despite Tour de France fatigue

Tadej Pogačar will ride the road race and the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, leading the elite men’s Slovenian team in Glasgow as he tries to take on Remco Evenepoel, Wout Van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and a number of other powerful national teams.

Pogačar had put off any decision on the World Championships after finishing the Tour de France in Paris fatigued and second overall behind Jonas Vingegaard.

The Slovenian endured a near race-long battle with Vingegaard, only cracking in the third week. He bounced back to win stage 20 but opted not to ride any post-Tour criteriums, the Clásica San Sebastián or Sunday’s  Coupe d'Europe des Grimpeurs time trial.

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However after a week of recovery at home, the Slovenian Cycling Federation has now confirmed Pogačar's presence via social media.

Pogačar showed his form during a 105km weekend training ride when he took 30 seconds off Richie Porte's 2016 record for the west side of the Col de la Madone. He jokingly titled the ride 'Baiting @richieporte to come back in europe'.

Pogačar will be joined by Matevz Govekar, Kristijan Koren, Luka Mezgec, Domen Novak, Jaka Primozic, Anze Skok for the elite men’s road race on Sunday August 6. He is the only Slovenian competing in the elite men’s time trial on August 11.

Urška Žigart, Špela Kern, Urša Pintar and Eugenija Bujak will ride the women’s road race, with Bujak also riding the time trial.

Matej Mohorič and Primož Roglič have decided not to ride the Road World Championships. Mohorič won a stage at the Tour de France and a stage at the  Tour de Pologne but believes the technical finishing circuit in central Glasgow does not suit him. Roglič could have been a contender for the time trial but is fully focused on preparing for the Vuelta a Espana that begins on Saturday August 26.

After the World Championships, Pogačar is expected to ride a series of one-day races in the final months of 2023, ending his season at Il Lombardia which he won in 2021 and 2022.