Two Slovenians
The following, with added commentary, is taken from an article in L’Equipe written by Dominique Issartel on the two Slovenian stars of this Tour, the Yellow Jersey Primož Roglič and his fast-rising challenger, the 21-year old Tadej Pogacâr.
The two riders are polar opposites in terms of personality and racing styles. Young Pogacâr tends to throw caution to the wind, attacking whenever his legs tell him to, someone whose generous and joyful racing spirit is infectious and full of that quality that Issartel terms a “flamboyant panache.”
30-year old Roglič is a different animal. A stubborn, to-the-millimeter calculator who uses all his experience to economize efforts when and wherever possible, especially in the post-race interviews where his mono-sibyllic and monotone interviews certainly drive TV producers to despair. Their respective debuts in cycling provide a key to understanding the differences between the two.
Radenska is grand cycling club in the Slovenian capital of Ljubjlana and in 2008 the head of their racing school, Miha Koncilija, was on the lookout for new talent. He was making a tour of the grade schools of the city, equipped with an adjustable bicycle and a stationary trainer, putting the kids on the bike and simply testing how far they could ride in a two-minute period. On reward was a loaned bicycle, membership in the club and entry into its racing program. (I might add in that similar concepts such as the Kilomètre Roustines in France gave the world Daniel Morelon, one of the most revered track sprinters in history, and a recruiting program found Miguel Indurain). Tadej Pogacâr’s older brother Dylan was already in the club and as Koncilija put it: “Tadej joined us at 10-years old and what most motivated him was that we were going to give him the same Wilier bicycle as Dylan.”
Roglič was not so easily welcomed into the club. It was 2012 and Roglič had decided to stop his ski-jumping career, a surprise since he’d been considered a phenom, invited to join the national when only 16-years old. Andrej Hauptman, the most famous Slovenian racer up to that time and head of the Radenska U-23 program, told of his first contact with the current Yellow Jersey: “Primoz telephoned me and told me that he’d just discovered the bicycle and wanted to become a professional. I asked him how old he was and when he responded, ”I’m 22”, I told him it was impossible. He insisted say that he’d already been on the National Ski team (note: Slovenia consistently has the very highest level of skiers). Just to get rid of him I told Primoz that we’d take him in, but he’d have to pay for his bike, his license, etc., and that it would cost him 5,000 euros to get in. I was sure that that was the last I’d hear from him. Three months later, I get this phone call, “It’s Primoz, the ski-jumper. I’ve got the money.” Roglič had worked those past three months in a supermarket to get the funds.
His first races didn’t go well. The club gave him an old racing bike, a Wilier touring model, and, despite his prowess on ski’s, Roglič would crash and crash again. He’d always get up, not say a word, and forge on. He would finish all the races in a state of hunger shock because of his inability to reach behind to his back pockets for food – he’d cause even more crashes whenever he tried.
During this same time, Pogacâr was living a dream adolescence growing up with his clubmates, inseparable, spending entire winter days together running up and down mountains, playing together with joy, basking in the familial atmosphere of the club. Hauptman remembered Pogacâr’s first victory: “ I was at a local race for (what we used to call Intermediates 11-13-years old) held on a 13-kilometer circuit. I saw Tadej 500-meters behind the field and started yelling at the club president saying that it wasn’t right to let such a young kid hang behind like that, that they needed to bring him back up to the field. The president looked at me and said, “what are you talking about, Tadej’s about to lap the field!” Hauptmann immediately called his wife and said, “Finally, we’ve found a champion.”
Roglič didn’t win any great races as an amateur, learning the sport inch by painful inch. By 2013 the Radenska club was ready to bring him into their elite squad, but Primoz Roglič had other ideas. He went straight to the Continental Adria-Mobil team and asked to turn professional. Bogdan Fink, the team boss, after hearing his story and seeing Roglič’s impressive test results took the chance and gave him a six-month trial spot on the team. As Fink explained, “ Roglič owes all of his success solely to himself and his extraordinary will. He approached the two seasons with us as though he was in combat, each race without a crash was like a victory, every breakaway was a Maillot Jaune. His calculating manner of racing was forged through that atypical career path, that much is certain.”
Pogacâr races in a carefree manner as seen in his response to the losses in the echelon wars of Friday, answering critics with his insouciant attacks in the Pyrenees, taking each day as an adventure to be lived to the fullest.
The two are just as much opposites when home in Ljubjlana. Pogacâr rides with old friends, frequents the Hauptmann’s watching the Classics together, reveling in the warmth of his community. Roglič, on the other hand, trains alone, leaving at the break of dawn, never speaking to the amateurs who try and follow him. He is a man on a mission, and absolutely nothing matters to him that’s not part of his plan, that plan he formed eight-years ago when he decided to become a racing cyclist. The plan with the objective of winning the Tour de France in 2020.