STA, 4 May 2019 - Slovenian racing cyclist Primož Roglič won the fourth stage of the 2019 Tour de Romandie on Saturday, consolidating his lead in the overall rankings.

The 29-year-old, who currently rides for the Jumbo-Visma team, clinched his second stage win of the week, taking a step closer toward winning his second consecutive title at the Switzerland tour and his third race of the 2019 UCI World Tour.

The Slovenian cyclist crossed the finish line ahead of Portuguese Rui Costa and Welsh Geraint Thomas after conquering 107 kilometres.

The key mountain stage of the race was reduced by 70km due to poor weather conditions, but it still posed quite a challenge mostly because of its 10km summit finish.

Roglič now has a 12-second lead before tomorrow's final stage of the race.

STA, 28 April 2019 - World champion Loic Bruni from France won Sunday's World Cup mountain biking downhill on Slovenia's Pohorje, which hosted the event after a nine-year break. The women's race was won by Britain's Tahnee Seagrave.

Bruni outperformed Britain's Danny Hart by 0.404 seconds, while Australia's Troy Brosnan finished third.

Slovenia's Jure Žabjek, the best male competitor last season, finished 20th.

He is nevertheless happy with the result, making a comeback after injuries cost him almost all of last season.

"I believe I can climb higher," Žabjek, a member of the Slovenian-Canadian Unior/Devinci Factory Racing team, said after the race.

The women's race was won by Seagrave, with Slovenia's Monika Hrastnik, last year's European champion, finishing fifth.

The World Cup event on Pohorje used to be one of the most popular races of the season. The first race was held 20 years.

The organisers said this was Maribor's largest sporting event in recent years.

The Red Bull Media House estimated around 60 million spectators from around the world would tune in live.

You can see the course below, and if you'd like to mountain bike in Pohorje then check out the Bike Park site here

Another bouldering competition and another first place finish for Janja Garnbret, as the young Slovene took gold for the third time in the third event of the season in Chongqing, China. She was joined on the podium by Akiyo Noguchi (Japan) in second place, and Austria’s Jessica Pilz. Katija Kadić was the other Slovenian in the top 10, finishing sixth.

Turning to the men’s bouldering, this was won by Manuel Cornu (France), followed by Japan’s Tomoa Narasaki, with Slovenia’s Anže Peharc in third, while Gregor Vezonik was eighth.

The results means that Slovenia remains at the top of the team rankings for bouldering, ahead of Japan and France, while the women’s event is led by Janja Garnbret. With regard to the men’s overall rankings, the Czech Adam Ondra is in the lead, followed by Slovenia’s Jernej Kruder.

STA, 17 April 2019 - Slovenia's best goalkeeper and national team mainstay Jan Oblak has agreed on a contract extension with his Atletico Madrid until 2023, the Spanish powerhouse announced on Wednesday. The extension makes him one of the highest paid goalkeepers in the world.

The four-year extension puts an end to lengthy negotiations between the Slovenian and the club for which he has played since July 2014.

The 26-year-old from Škofja Loka is to receive around 10 million euro a year under the new contract, which makes him one of the highest paid goalkeepers in the world.

According to Transfermarkt, Oblak is the most valuable goalkeeper in the world, with an estimated market value of 80 million euro.

The new contract for Oblak, who has played 203 games for Atletico Madrid and managed to keep his net intact for a whopping 115 games, is expected to put his buyout value at 120 million euor.

His goalkeeping statistics brought him the latest three annual titles of the best goalkeeper in the Spanish premier division.

"I'm very happy to extend my cooperation with Atletico, that I'm here. I will continue to defend the club's colours as best as I can and I will continue to play hard," he told the club's website.

With the Madrid club, Oblak won the Spanish Super Cup (2014), the UEFA Europa League (2018) and the UEFA Super Cup (2018).

He also made it to the best team of the UEFA Champions League in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons, and was also declared the Slovenian football player of the year in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Oblak, who has 20 caps for the national team, has recently announced his return to the team after an absence of more than a year.

STA, 15 April 2019 - The Slovenian Basketball Association's (KZS) bid for Slovenia to host one of the preliminary groups of the EuroBasket 2021 has been endorsed by the government.

Hosting one of the preliminary groups would cost 4.5 million euro, of which 1.8 million euro in a fee and another 700,000 euro in other fixed costs.

Slovenia would have to pay the fee and the other fixed costs of 2.5 million euro to FIBA Europe in advance. Today's green light means the money will come from the government.

"We asked the state for a donation or a kind of a loan since the Basketball Association could not afford to pay the 2.5 million to FIBA Europe in advance, this is practically its entire annual budget," explained KZS president Matej Erjavec.

But judging by the EuroBasket 2013, which was held in Slovenia, the investment pays off at the end of the competition through ticket sales and sponsors, he added.

The funds will be allocated to the KZS as part of the 2021 annual sport plan on the basis of the rules governing co-funding sport events at national level.

Apart from Slovenia, also vying for the tournament are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary and Italy.

Erjavec has recently said that seven bids arrived at FIBA Europe, among them only one for the final part of the tournament, which means Slovenia has a 50% chance to win one of the preliminary groups.

He has also explained there were two reasons why the KZS would like to host one of the EuroBasket 2021 groups.

As a host, Slovenia would qualify for the championships directly, without having to play in qualifications. This means the relatively young national team would have a chance to mature in the coming two years without being under pressure to deliver results.

The other reason is a wish to have NBA star Luka Dončić play in front of a home crowd. "We're aware that NBA players could not take part in the qualifications as they were designed for the world championships," said Erjavec.

If it is selected one of the hosts, Slovenia will organise such a prominent basketball event for the second time - after hosting the entire tournament in 2013.

It was another good IFSC Climbing Worldcup weekend for Slovene climbers in Moscow, with Janja Garnbret coming in first place in the bouldering event, followed by the UK’s Shauna Coxsey and France’s Fanny Gilbert. In 4^th place for the women was another Slovene, Lučka Rakovec.

With regard to the men, Jernej Kruder took the gold, followed by the Czech Adam Ondr and Japan’s Yoshiyuki Ogata, with another Slovene in 4^th place, Anže Peharc.

These performances secured first place for Slovenia in the team rankings, with 331 points, followed by Japan (210), and France (151).

All our stories on climbing – both sport and alpine – are here.

Climbing, both sport and alpine, is one of those activities in which the little nation of Slovenia has an outsized presence, and this weekend saw the opening event of the season with regard to the former –  the first bouldering competition of the IFSC 2019 Climbing Worldcup, held in Meiringen, Switzerland.

Taking first place for the women was Janja Garnbret, the Slovene teen said to be “the best climber in the world”, and an athlete whose progress it’s been a joy to follow over the last few years, as the sport gears up for it’s first appearance in the Olympics (Tokyo 2020). Garnbret took gold, followed by Akiyo Noguchi (Japan) and the UK’s Shauna Coxsey.

With regard to the men’s event, this was won by Japan’s Kokoro Fuji, followed by Jongwon Chon (Korea) and Tomoaki Takata (Japan). The highest ranked Slovene was Jernej Kruder, in 11^th place.

You can follow all our sports climbing coverage here, while our stories on alpinism are here

https://english.sta.si/2621620/karateka-ristic-wins-silver-at-european-championships

Karate: Tjaša Ristić Takes Silver at Euro Championships (Video)

STA, 30 March 2019 - Slovenia's Tjaša Ristić won the silver medal at the European Karate Championships in Spain's Gualadajara in the women's 61kg category, losing in Saturday's final to Merve Coban of Turkey 0:4. This is the best achievement for Slovenia in women's karate in history.

"I knew that it would be very difficult, as have never beaten the Turk, but I did not surrender in advance. Regardless of the defeat, I'm very happy," the 25-year-old from Kranj told the STA.

Ristić made it to the final with an excellent streak in which she beat Diana Petrescu of Israel (5:0), Bettina Alstadsaether of Norway (1:0) and Lynn Snel of Netherlands (3:2).

In the semi-finals, she demolished with 9:1 Ingrida Suchanikova of Slovakia, who eventually won the bronze medal.

The next stops for Ristić will be world series events in Morocco and Turkey in which she will be looking to score some more points in a bid to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.