"Just my speculation that it might have something to do with Tadej’s decision” - Jens Voigt believes Urska Zigart's Olympic snub influenced Pogacar's withdrawal
Cycling
Neither Tadej Pogacar or Urska Zigart will be representing Slovenia at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. Can the controversial absence of Zigart from the women's team be correlated with Pogacar's last-minute withdrawal though? In Jens Voigt opinion, it sure could.
“His girlfriend Urska won the national time trial with a four-minute gap to second, she won the road race with a 10-minute gap, and she is not selected,” the vastly experienced Voigt explains of the situation. “And to make it even more funny the national coach is the team boss of the two young women selected for the Olympics. So even for me as an outside observer, I go ‘I wonder what that is’, that’s just my speculation that it might have something to do with Tadej’s decision.”
When it comes to Pogacar's Olympic absence however, Voigt is in no doubt that the Slovenian, who already this year has triumphed at the Giro d'Italia and more recently the Tour de France, will be a very big miss. “I would have put him in an unbeatable decision for the road race," Voigt says. “Plus, Slovenia, despite only having two million people living there, has five/six riders in the top 100, so you also have the right to have four starters possible which is the maximum so Tadej would have had a team around him. He would have been the favourite but has decided to focus on the World Championships and other races at the end of the season.”
However, Voigt does not believe any pros should compete at the Olympic Games, as used to be the custom. “I think we should not go to the Olympics, I think it should go back to under-23 or strictly amateur racing," he concludes. “In professional cycling, we have the Tour de France, we have all the classics, we have the World Championships. We have so many important and traditional races that the Olympics are not as much of a highlight as they would be for say wrestling, so we should give it back to amateurs.”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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No Urška, no Pogi. 🤷🏻 Tadej Pogacar won't race the Paris Olympics due to "tiredness" after Giro and Tour. It's not a route for him indeed but I think the main reason for skipping it is because her partner, Urska Zigart was snubbed. He will be replaced by Domen Novak.
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