Defending Olympic time trial champion Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) will not head to Paris after the Tour de France while Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is expected to lead Slovenia's charge in the road race.
Joining the Giro d'Italia winner is Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike), who will also fill the country's single entry in the flat 32.4-kilometre Olympic time trial route in Paris.
Former Milan-San Remo winner Matej Mohorič of Bahrain Victorious and sprinter Luka Mezgec of Jayco AlUla round out the four-man selection.
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Tratnik represented Slovenia along with Pogačar, the bronze medalist in the road race in Tokyo, while Mohorič raced in Rio in 2016. Mezgec is making his Olympic debut.
Eugenia Bujak (UAE Team ADQ) and Urška Pintar from the Continental team BTC City Ljubljana Zhiraf Ambedo, make up the women's team for Slovenia, announced on Monday, competing in the 158-kilometre road race and the 32.4-kilometre individual time trial.
This year's Olympic Games marks the first time that Slovenia has had this many athletes racing in the road cycling events.
However, the selection excludes the top-ranked women's WorldTour rider from the country Urška Žigart (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), and the rider with the most points in 2023 toward qualifying the two places for the women's road race and time trial.
"It's not easy to accept, but some battles are lost before they even begin," Žigart, who is currently racing the Giro d'Italia Women, said in a post on her Instagram story. "Good luck to everyone whose dreams came true."
Pogačar, Žigart's fiancée, also expressed his surprise via Instagram, writing "Wow, so gutted Urska Zigart, double national champion and the best WorldTour rider in Slovenia was not selected for Olympic Games. No words."
With Roglič declining to compete in Paris after claiming the time trial gold medal in Tokyo and road race champion Richard Carapaz not making Ecuador's selection, two new Olympic champions will be crowned during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
