Urska Zigart extends contract through 2027 as she follows fiancé Tadej Pogacar into Strade Bianche and targets Tour de France finale

There was no hesitation when the offer came. After a breakthrough first campaign with AG Insurance - Soudal, Urska Zigart has committed her future to the Belgian squad through 2027, reinforcing both her growing leadership role and her upward trajectory in the Women’s WorldTour.

The extension comes as the Slovenian champion prepares to open her season at Strade Bianche on 7 March, the same day her fiancé Tadej Pogacar begins his own campaign on the white roads of Siena. It sets up the first visible crossover point in what could become a shared narrative season, with both riders also holding ambitions that may converge again in France this summer.

Zigart’s decision to extend is rooted in substance, not symbolism.

In her first season with the team, she delivered career-defining results at some of the calendar’s biggest races: runner-up at the Tour de Romandie Feminin, fifth overall at the Tour de Suisse Women, and ninth at the Giro d’Italia Women. Those performances underlined her evolution from national champion into a consistent general classification contender at WorldTour level.

Explaining her decision to stay in an official press release, Zigart made clear the environment played a decisive role. “I love the atmosphere in the team and appreciate the confidence they have in me and the support I get, so that’s why I wanted to continue for one extra year, until 2028. We’ll see what these two seasons will bring and what we can do together on the road. I feel really great here, and I had no second thoughts when it came to adding one more year to the deal I already had.”

The message is straightforward: stability, trust and progression.

Her immediate focus is Strade Bianche, a race that has become symbolic for the Slovenian couple. Last season, both lined up wearing race number one in Siena. This year, they will again open their campaigns on the same day, albeit in separate races.

Beyond March, the calendar begins to hint at a potentially parallel storyline.

Zigart has the Vuelta and Giro firmly in her spring plans, but the late summer spotlight looms largest. The final stage of the Tour de France Femmes concludes in Nice, close to where she and Pogacar are based, and the decisive climb of the Col d’Eze is one she rides regularly in training. Speaking to Sportal about the possibility of riding the race, she said:

“We will see. For now, we have only put together the programme for the first part of the season. But the Tour is interesting this year also because the final stage finishes almost at home, in Nice. I ride the Col d’Eze climb on almost every training session, and the riders will cross it four times, so of course it would be nice to race there. But as I said, there is still a long way to go.”

If Pogacar’s season will inevitably be framed around Grand Tour targets, Zigart’s is increasingly shaped by similar ambitions within the women’s peloton. The difference is that her extension ensures that pursuit will unfold within a structure she already trusts.

For AG Insurance - Soudal, retaining a multiple Slovenian champion entering her prime is strategic continuity. For Zigart, it is a platform to push beyond last season’s breakthrough and test just how far her stage race ceiling extends.

And if March in Siena marks the first shared chapter of 2026, Nice in August could yet provide its most resonant one.