"It is a small country with until recently, not a great cycling culture. Wow, that has changed" - Thijs Zonneveld on Slovenia's Grand Tour dominance in 2024

In 2024, all of cycling's three Grand Tours went home with Slovenian winners. Both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France were won by Tadej Pogacar, before just last weekend, Primoz sealed the victory at the Vuelta a Espana.

Between the superstar duo, a total of nine Grand Tours have now been won in recent years by either Pogacar (1x Giro d'Italia + 3x Tour de France) or Roglic (1x Giro d'Italia + 4x Vuelta a Espana). Not so long ago, such cycling domination by Slovenia would have been completely unheard of, but the emergence of Pog and Rog, plus the likes of Matej Mohoric, Jan Tratnik and others have ensured the nation's place amongst the modern cycling elite.

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"Slovenia is of course more than just Tadej Pogacar," ex-pro turned pundit Thijs Zonneveld assesses on the In Het Wiel podcast. "Pogacar is of course very good, but those few Slovenian riders who are there, are just incredibly good. It is a small country with I think three million inhabitants, with until recently not a great cycling culture. But wow, that has changed quite a bit in the past five or six years. What good riders come from there."

In fact, Zonneveld feels like Roglic, someone well known for his typically dry interview style is probably unfairly judged somewhat because he's speaking in his second language. "We just have to learn Slovenian once to really talk to him. I don't think anyone gets to see the real Roglic, unless you are his teammate or if you speak Slovenian," Zonneveld judges. "During the corona period, we were able to talk to riders online, before a race. Then we suddenly saw a completely different Roglic. Longer answers, more extensive. Maybe he likes it a lot better without a big camera or microphone in front of him. Otherwise, he mainly comes across as someone who is used to rushing through interviews."

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