Tadej has a long history with the Tour of Slovenia, as he already competed here as a teenager and won the white jersey for the best young rider every single time he took part in the Tour of Slovenia. This year, Tadej entered the Tour of Slovenia with a clear goal – to win the green jersey for the overall race victory, which has been eluding him for “too long”
Tadej soon justified the role of the main favorite for the overall victory on homeland roads. In Stage 2 he already displayed his supremacy and completely destroyed the entire competition. About 23 km before the Stage finish Tadej initiated a solo breakaway and crossed the finish line with a 1m22s advantage ahead of the nearest rider. With a dominant performance, Tadej laid the foundations for the much-coveted overall victory and made sure that the “fight for green” (Tour of Slovenia slogan) was more or less decided in his favor.
Until the end of the Tour of Slovenia, Tadej calmly controlled the course of the remaining stages and with the amazing country-wide support easily defended the blue jersey for the best climber and the green jersey for the overall victory in the 27th edition of the Tour of Slovenia. Celebrating the victory on home soil in front of the home crowd was another childhood wish that came true for Tadej.
The current winner of the Tour de France did not hide his enthusiasm after the victory at home:
“It is an incredible emotion, I have been near the podium in this race four times and I can finally celebrate taking the title. It was a beautiful week that makes me happy and proud to be able to be here at home in front of all these people. The team has always worked well and we deserved these results, congratulations to all the guys.
My legs are getting better and better and I’m almost ready for the Tour de France. I still have two weeks to prepare myself for what will be my next big goal.”
Photo : Alen Milavec
