“Primoz is in form like he's not been for a long time” - Slovenian coach backs Roglic to fill Tadej Pogacar-sized void in World Championship bid

Primoz Roglic will lead Slovenia's bid for the rainbow jersey at the 2026 World Championships after Tadej Pogacar's season-ending Vuelta a Espana crash forced the defending champions into a major rethink just weeks before Montreal.

Pogacar had won the past two elite men's road race world titles and, on a course containing almost 3,800 metres of climbing, would again have been one of the major favourites on September 27. Instead, national coach Uros Murn will turn to Roglic, who has returned to a high level during the ongoing Vuelta.

Slovenia's road race squad also includes Jan Tratnik, Luka Mezgec, Matej Mohoric, Gal Glivar, Matevz Govekar and Tilen Finkst, while the federation hopes Jakob Omrzel will receive permission from his team to travel after an impressive debut Grand Tour in Spain. If Omrzel cannot race, Murn says Slovenia will not call up a replacement.

For the national coach, Roglic's form offers the strongest reason to believe Slovenia can remain a major factor even without Pogacar. “Primoz is in form like he's not been for a long time,” Murn told Siol. “He probably cannot quite believe it himself and I believe he will know how to make use of it.”

Roglic has spent much of the Vuelta fighting towards the front of the general classification, giving Slovenia an in-form alternative after losing the rider around whom their original World Championships plans had been constructed.

Murn also believes the Montreal terrain can work in his favour. “The climbs in the race suit him, while technically the course is not that demanding because the roads are wide,” he said. “Positioning in the group will be very important, so that we can protect him at the front and make sure he has the support he needs.”

The elite men's race covers 273.7 kilometres and 3,803 metres of elevation, with the decisive portion built around repeated laps of the Mount Royal circuit rather than one prolonged mountain ascent.

Despite Roglic's enormous Grand Tour palmares, success in the World Championships road race has proved harder to find. His best result remains sixth at Imola in 2020 and he has never won an elite Worlds road race medal. Pogacar, by contrast, leaves behind the rainbow jersey after consecutive victories in Zurich and Kigali.

The leadership change also transforms Slovenia's tactical position. With Pogacar present, Murn believes rival nations would again have expected Slovenia to take significant responsibility for controlling the race. His absence moves that pressure elsewhere and allows Roglic and his teammates to approach Montreal from a less exposed position.

“All the focus on us will consequently shift towards the Belgian and French teams, while we will be able to attack from the third or fourth line,” Murn explained.

The Slovenian coach admitted Pogacar's withdrawal forced a considerable reshuffle in the final weeks before the championships. “After Tadej's injury there was quite a scramble in terms of making adjustments. If Omrzel is not in Canada, nobody will travel in his place because Domen Novak will be racing in Croatia with his team. We do not really need any other riders we could call up given the changed dynamics of the race. In recent years we had to control the race, now we will leave that to others.”

Tratnik is also due to race the GP Quebec and GP Montreal with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe before joining the national team, giving another member of the Slovenian squad competitive exposure in Canada ahead of the championships.

Belgium are the nation Murn expects to inherit much of the attention previously directed towards Slovenia.

Remco Evenepoel, the 2022 world champion and runner-up behind Pogacar in Kigali last year, will share Belgian leadership with Wout van Aert. Murn sees Evenepoel as the individual favourite but believes having two riders with ambitions of winning could create its own complications.

“Every national team's ambitions increased when they experienced the shock of Pogacar's withdrawal. Everything will change,” he said. “For me, Remco Evenepoel is the favourite, but I think there could be some friction within the team because Wout van Aert also wants to win and he is racing exceptionally well at the Vuelta.”

France are another team Murn expects to carry greater responsibility, leaving Slovenia able to approach the race differently from the championships Pogacar won in 2024 and 2025.

Roglic will therefore arrive in Montreal as Slovenia's first option rather than its supporting Grand Tour superstar. At 36, and with sixth place from Imola still his best result in the elite men's road race, he will be chasing the first World Championships road medal of his career.