Tour de France: Slovenia's share in Pogacar's dominance

For a country with just over two million inhabitants, Slovenia's success in sports is astonishing. Slovenian athletes won seven medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Slovenian Luka Doncic is one of the best players in the North American professional basketball league NBA. And let's not forget that the world's best cyclist , Tadej Pogacar , who is on the verge of winning his fourth Tour de France , also comes from this small European country. Is Slovenia simply blessed with the good fortune of having produced a rare generation of talented athletes, or is there something more to it?

Professor Gregor Jurak works at the University of the capital, Ljubljana. The sports scientist believes there are several reasons why Slovenia is a great place for young athletes to develop in competitive sports. "The entire population is quite fit, aware of physical performance, and quite motivated," Jurak told DW.

Mothers as "managers of leisure"

It starts in the schools. Physical education teachers must complete a five-year specialized training program before starting their careers, which is significantly longer than in many other European countries. Slovenian schools also offer comparatively more physical education classes, and classes are relatively small, with a maximum of 20 children or young people. The sports facilities are well-developed.

Starting in sixth grade, girls are taught separately from boys, which, according to Jurak's research, improves girls' chances of developing good physical fitness. The schools also collaborate with sports clubs. Taken together, this provides a very good foundation for young people's physical health.

"We also found in our studies that it's primarily mothers in families who determine their children's lifestyles. And since our mothers are very physically active—they're among the most active in Europe—they actually pass these habits on to their children," says Jurak. "They're the managers of leisure time."

Physical development of adolescents is recorded

In addition, there is the state-run SLOfit program . Since 1987, the physical and motor development of children and adolescents has been recorded annually in all primary and secondary schools.

Jurak is the lead researcher at SLOfit. He says both families and schools benefit from the program. Parents can better assess their children's physical development, identify exceptional athletic talent, and specifically promote it, the scientist says. This also applies to teaching staff, who can also help adolescents who have physical difficulties.

Not just football

After the breakup from Yugoslavia in 1991, sport, especially winter sports, became an important part of Slovenia's national identity. The country's geographical diversity—mountains, hills, plains, and abundant green spaces—provided ideal conditions for this.

Sports scientist Jurak also believes it's a good thing for the country that, unlike other European countries, football doesn't attract all the attention. "I think one of the downsides of football is that it's so commercialized and can displace all other sports. That's not the case in Slovenia," says Jurak. "Perhaps that's one of the advantages for our young athletes. They're not exposed to as much commercialization, which could also have a negative impact on their personalities."

The country is also trying to promote other activities, such as Slovenia's most popular sport, mountaineering . Cycling is also popular, Jurak said, but more as a recreational activity than a competitive sport.

Talent + Development = Pogacar

And what about Tadej Pogacar, who currently dominates cycling almost as much as Belgian legend Eddy Merckx once did? According to an article in the British cycling magazine "Rouleur," Pogacar has a maximum oxygen uptake—a measure of physical performance—of an astonishing 89.4 milliliters per minute per kilogram of body weight. Normally, this value for a professional cyclist in the Tour de France peloton is between 70 and 85 milliliters.

Do his physiology and talent alone explain Pogacar's dominance, or does his Slovenian origins also play a role? For Jurak, the answer is clear: "He's a super talent, but would he be such a super talent without this environment? Probably not."

This article was adapted from the original English version "How Slovenia helped Tadej Pogacar become Tour de France star" .