"My worst season ever": Matej Mohoric hopes to turn his year upside down at the Gravel World Championships

Matej Mohoric is one of the main stars of Bahrain - Victorious. But if you haven't followed cycling in 2025 too closely, you may have forgotten the Slovenian is still racing. The Milano-Sanremo winner from three years ago has been anonymous for most of the season, with only a third place in the neutralized Tour de France stage 21 through Montmartre and a 5th place from GP de Quebec worthy of a mention. And with only the Japan Cup (1.Pro) on Mohoric's road season calendar, there is not many possibilities to turn the unflattering record around. But still, the 30-year-old hopes to give his 2025 campaign a sweet conclusion at the Gravel World Championships in Netherlands this weekend.

"It was probably my worst season ever in terms of results," Mohoric confides to WielerFlits. Numbers do the speaking: Mohoric scored 484 UCI points in 2025, not even a half of his 2024 tally, and almost five times less than in 2023.

Annoyingly though, the start to the new season seemed promising with a second place overall at the Tour de la Provence. But since then, things went south. "I started well in the Tour de la Provence and those first races, but then I got sick twice. I probably pushed my body too hard in the winter to take an extra step in preparing for the Classics. But yeah, that didn't really pay off, and what followed was my worst Classics campaign so far."

There were always moments when it seemed like Mohoric was back on the right track, such as after the 21st place at Tour of Flanders, but then an immediate setback followed. "After the classics, I tried to pull myself together, take some rest, and start again. That's where I found really good form again. Actually, I even hit my best form ever a few times this year, but then something always went terribly wrong," he explains.

Then came Tour de France where Mohoric was able to triumph three times before. But this year he had to wait until the final day to leave his mark at the history of the race. "From the start, I had problems with my bike, so I was very disappointed," he said.

"Luckily, I was able to rally myself again and achieve a good result in the final stage, which was great for my confidence, but also for the team," Mohoric continues. "It's obviously one of the most important stages of the year, and there were so many spectators along the roadside, so that was something special that I'll carry with me for the rest of my career and beyond."

In the races that followed, including the ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg and the Renewi Tour, luck wasn't on his side again, after which a fifth-place finish at the GP Québec was a welcome boost. "That's okay, but it doesn't make my season a success," he clarifies.

As a former gravel world champion (2023), Mohoric hopes to add another rainbow jersey to his palmares at the upcoming World Championships in Limburg. Since his triumph two years ago, the level of competition has grown enormously, but Mohoric still dreams of a top result.

"That's an important goal for me. I'm probably one of the favorites. Maybe not the favorite, but I think I can compete for a good result," he explains.

Due to the busy schedule that saw Mohoric compete on Thursday in Italy, a comprehensive course reconnaissance wasn't possible. Mohoric is not worried about that impacting his race though. "I'll have to approach the race more intuitively, as I often do," he concludes.