Tadej Pogačar and Urška Žigart won the Slovenian national time trial championships on Thursday, giving the couple two titles to celebrate during a rare visit to compete at home.
Pogačar had not raced since fracturing his scaphoid at Liège-Bastogne-Liège but won the men’s time trial title by over five minutes against local opposition, suggesting he is back to his best and ready for the Tour de France.
Pogačar beat Marko Pavlič of the Slovenian MebloJOGI Pro-concrete Continental team by 5:14. Anže Skok (Ljubljana Gusto Santic) was third at 6:30.
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An hour earlier, Žigart won the women’s time trial title on the same course. She beat former UAE Team ADQ rider Urška Pintar by 1:43, with Eugenia Bujak (UAE Team ADQ) third at 5:33.
The 15.7km course climbed almost constantly from Zgornje Gorje (at an altitude of 635 metres) to Pokljuka (at 1346 metres). Both Žigart and Pogačar took the Slovenian time trial titles for a third time each.
The 2023 championship was held on the same course as in 2020 and Pogačar beat his 2020 time 1:27. The riders were soaked by rain in 2020 and Pogačar beat Primož Roglič by just nine seconds. Two months later, with the 2020 season delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he won the Tour de France for the first time, confirming his Grand Tour talents.
"It was a good test for the time trial at the Tour de France,” Pogačar told Slovenian television. “I wanted to ride better than three years ago. I set myself the goal of improving my time by one minute, which I achieved and so I’m very happy. We improved in terms of time but also a lot in the equipment we use.
"My hand is feeling better, it's not quite right yet, but it doesn't bother me during training. For now, I just have to make sure I don't fall or hit the bone.”
Žigart is expected to ride the Tour de France Femmes with Jayco-AlUla and recently showed her form by going close to victory at the Tour de Suisse Women.
“I’m really happy to keep the jersey for another year, I’m always really proud to wear the national colours,” she said.
“It was really hot today and I got a bit scared. I started quite fast, but luckily there was something left in my legs after the last few days of racing. I’m super happy with how it went today and I’m looking forward to keeping the shape for the races in July.”
