Tadej Pogacar blasts Oliveira's Tour of Slovenia penalty: "For me it was a clear victory"

Rui Oliveira's dream of winning a long-cherished victory was bitterly postponed on Thursday. The 28-year-old Portuguese rider was disqualified after crossing the finish line first in the second stage of the Tour of Slovenia yesterday, thus missing out on his long-awaited victory. With the decision of the stewards, victory was awarded to the Swiss rider Fabio Christen.

Despite the disappointment, Rui Oliveira was proud of his performance, "This has been the most difficult year since I turned professional. For so many reasons and setbacks, it was really hard for me to imagine myself crossing the finish line first today, so I'm proud of myself for overcoming that and doing what I did," he wrote on his Instagram account, in a post illustrated by photos of the finish.

However, the UAE rider assured that he will continue to fight for his debut win, "Despite everything, it was a special day. I'll keep looking for it [victory]", he promised.

The post quickly generated a wave of support on social media. Among the comments on the post was that of his UAE Team Emirates - XRG teammate, current world champion Tadej Pogacar:

"I'm proud of you, brother. For me, it was a clear and well-deserved victory," wrote the man who is considered to be the best cyclist of our time.

Ivo Oliveira, Rui's twin brother, had already spoken out on X (formerly Twitter), where he expressed his indignation: "If they decide that, from now on, they have to disqualify riders because of something like this, cycling is over! They can start disqualifying everyone, because every day and in every sprint, things like this happen, if not worse, and no one is ever sanctioned! Rui, for me you're the winner".