The Tour de France champion, Tadej Pogacar, has been ruled out of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Slovenian Olympic Committee [OKS] said on Monday.
Pogacar, who won his third Tour de France on Sunday to complete a Tour and Giro d’Italia double in 2024, was not selected because of fatigue, the Slovenian Olympic Committee said in a statement.
“The national coach of the men’s cycling team revealed the names of the riders who will compete in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris. Tadej Pogacar … being too tired, will not be among them,” the OKS statement said.
“He [Pogacar] will be replaced by his national team colleague Domen Novak,” the statement added. “We congratulate the winner of the race across France for another victory in the most prestigious cycling race in the world, and we hope that he will represent the colours of Slovenia at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.”
The 25-year-old has previously won one-day classics including the Tour of Flanders, the Giro di Lombardia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He was one of the favourites, alongside Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, for the Olympic road race, a gruelling 225km course in and around the French capital on 3 August.
The defending Olympic champion, Richard Carapaz – who won the mountains classification at this year’s Tour de France – was not selected by Ecuador.
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