"Primoz Roglic is and remains the most beloved rider in Slovenia" - Slovenian fans and Tadej Pogacar's mom reveal occasional hate on Tour de France champion

Slovenia has won all three Grand Tours this season and virtually half of them in the 2020's. Still their two great champions do not live in Slovenia and ahead of a World Championships race where both are contenders for the rainbow jersey; we understand that Roglic is actually the most popular back in their home country.

“We should be proud of Tadej, but it is what it is: Primoz Roglic is and remains the most beloved rider in Slovenia. He has many more fans than Tadej," Sporza reported ahead of the big race, taking words from fans on the road.

To Bahamontes, Primoz Roglic's family dismissed any hate on their part. “We really have no problem with Tadej or his family. We do not know each other well and do not speak to each other much, but there is no tension between us.”

This was very much due to w. hat happened at the 2020 Tour de France, where the nation's first Grand Tour contender in many years Primoz Roglic was about to win the race; when newcomer Pogacar 'stole' the yellow jersey on the final competitive day. Tadej Pogacar's mom says that from that day onwards, a small section of his compatriots developed a hate for Pogacar (although literally, he conquered that, and two more Tour de France trophies for the country)

Marjeta Pogacar, the mother of the most recent yellow jersey, shared with Sporza: "I still don't understand that statement. It was only then that I realised how the cards were stacked. Last year Tadej said to me 'mama, they don't like me'. He was referring to the Slovenians. That statement hurt me a lot. After the 2020 Tour, Tadej received a lot of negative reactions. Personal messages and such. He had supposedly betrayed Roglic. We are talking about a minority here, really, but it still affects him. In Slovenia, there is a kind of shadow hanging over Tadej. As if he had been beaten to the checkout."

It is an unexpected situation, but one that exists in the mind of the main favourite for this Sunday's race in Zurich. Pogacar's mother shares a particular example that left him dumbfounded: “In Paris-Nice 2023, some compatriots ostentatiously supported Vingegaard when he passed side by side with Tadej. They shouted encouragement in Slovenian to the Dane, so that Tadej could hear it. I don't understand that."