Sigi`s Peaks: Slovenian cycling party

Sigi Heinrich

They drive at a hellish pace because it can't go fast enough for them, the participants of the Tour de France. You have the corona virus on your back, which is gaining new momentum again in France. New infections are increasing and further risk areas are being identified. Arrive in Paris as safely as possible. This seems to work. There is only one weekend left and there have been no positive cases of Corona - with the exception of tour director Christian Prudhomme. That's good news, although you never know whether something will happen after all. But unfortunately that applies to cycling, because ultimately in this sport, as in many others, you can't read the books right down to the last page. And if you manage to do it, there is definitely no happy ending. The many doping cases in the past have already ensured this. Cycling has always managed to leave its fans with doubts. Attack against control Now, for example, we could once again be impetuous, even enthusiastic, about a new constellation. Two Slovenians storm the Tour de France. A late caller with Primoz Roglic (30) and a young wild one with Tadej Pogacar (21), who attacks like hell whenever possible. Roglic, on the other hand, loves control with his team from “Jumbo-Visma”. There are wonderful stories behind them and you are almost tempted to let yourself be seduced by them. Especially that of Roglic, who as a brilliant time trialist (was second in the 2017 World Cup) will probably bring his current lead to Paris. He only switched to cycling in 2011. He was previously a ski jumper. His successes back then are currently being exaggerated a little, because that's just fitting. He was a good junior and also won medals with the Slovenian junior team, but he was not a world-class jumper, as is often claimed. A fall led him to cycling. It was lucky for him. He has found his calling and is already a hero in Slovenia. Until now, only the music group “Laibach” was known from his small town of Trbovlje in Lower Styria. And the place is also known for the highest chimney in Europe (360m) of a coal-fired power plant that has now been closed down. That will change now. Primoz Roglic continues the series of highly successful athletes who come from a country with only two million inhabitants. And it will trigger a cycling boom. Drivers in Slovenia beware. Doubts remain As I said, it is an almost touching story if it weren't for the statement by David Lappartient, the French president of the International Cycling Federation (UCI), who said in 2019 that there were riders and managers in Slovenia whose situation we follow closely. (Results have not yet been obtained). And there also appear to be connections between the suspected doping doctor Dr. Mark Schmidt from Erfurt to Slovenia. The trial against him has recently begun in Munich. Roglic, who won the “Vuelta” last year, is aware of the problem and points out his tests. There are usually two a day. A first at six in the morning, a second after the stage. Doping tests. The corona tests are still coming. This offensive on his part is welcome but also necessary because cycling is still in the stranglehold of its fatal doping past. And the more unusual a race is, like this year with new protagonists, the bigger the shadows always seem to become. They are like monsters that won't rest. Much to the chagrin of everyone who would like to celebrate a happy and untroubled Slovenian party at the end of this year's Tour de France.

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Sigi`s Peaks: Slovenian cycling party

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