Slovenia wants to host Tour de France start in 2029: A present for Pogacar, but also a tribute to an old Tour legend

Slovenia welcomes the Giro d'Italia to its territory this year. The country of Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic is a neighboring country to Italy, but it has bigger dreams than just inviting the first grand tour of the year. So, it is possible that the Tour de France will also visit the little country in a few years.

After all, Slovenia is currently busy negotiating the organization of several Tour stages. It would then be about the 2029 edition, says the chairman of the Slovenian cycling committee, Rok Lozej: "Yes, we are working on it," he tells Tuttobiciweb. The Slovenian admits that the easiest thing would be to organize Le Grand Départ there. "That will have to cost a lot of money, but "not as much as you think," he says.

Organizing the start of the Tour de France would have a special reason. "The goal then is to pay tribute to Ottavio Bottecchia," Lozej states. Bottecchia was the first Italian Tour winner in 1924, winning again a year later. The bricklayer of Friuli lived near the border with Slovenia. "If the Tour were to start in Slovenia, we could agree with our neighbor (Italy, ed.) to pass part of a stage on these roads in honor of the grand Venetian champion."

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Should the Tour kick off in Slovenia, one can expect unprecedented craziness.

Pogacar could go for record-breaking Tour victory

Of course, the success of Slovenian riders is appealing to organizers. Tadej Pogacar will want nothing more than to win a Tour de France that starts in his own country. By the time this plan became a reality, the world champion would be 30 years old, young enough to remain at the top. Should he have won all the Tours by then, he will go for an eighth victory in that edition. For Primoz Roglic, it will be a difficult story: he will be forty that year, although it is not inconceivable that the late bloomer can still keep up with the best. Should the Giro trip to Slovenia go well this year, a Tour starting in 2029 is certainly possible.

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