Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar on Monday pulled out of the Paris Olympics citing âtirednessâ, his Slovenia team announced.
âUnfortunately Tadej Pogacar has cancelled his participation because of a state of extreme fatigue,â Slovenian Olympic cycling coach Uros Murn said in a statement.
Pogacar won a third Tour de France title in Nice on Sunday. Victory also gave him the first Giro dâItalia-Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998.
But the 25-year-old, a bronze medallist in the road race at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, had been angered by his girlfriend Urska Zigart not being selected for the Slovenian womenâs cycling team for the Paris Games.
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He said he was âangryâ and âspeechlessâ in a message posted on his Facebook account.
âI need a little rest after the Tour and Iâm not sure what Iâll be doing next,â Pogacar had said on Sunday.
âAnd I want to relax and rest and spend some time with my girlfriend.â
When asked about the Olympics on Sunday, he remained very evasive, preferring to mention his âdreamâ of one day wearing the rainbow jersey of world champion.
At the worlds in September in Zurich, the Slovenian is aiming for a triple of the world title, the Giro and Tour, only held by two men, Irelandâs Stephen Roche and Belgian Eddy Merckx.
Pogacar will be replaced on the national team by Domen Novak.
âOnce again Tadej, congratulations for Tour de France win!â Team Slovenia said.
Source Agencies
