STA, 13 April 2022 - The Tour of Slovenia (Dirka po Sloveniji), the largest road cycling race in the country, will see its 28th iteration in mid-June, this time with live spectators. Running for almost 800 kilometres, the five-stage race will again attract the greatest names in the sport, including the top-ranked cyclist in the world, Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar.
The organisers have announced a technically demanding race, which is in a way becoming a national cycling holiday given that Slovenia currently has three cyclists among the world's top 5.
"You can see that Slovenians have adopted this race as their own, so a strong positive national charge is expected," Tour of Slovenia director Bogdan Fink told the press on Wednesday.
The race around Slovenia is being increasingly promoted as a warm-up race for the Tour de France, which is evident from the names of competitors who registered. Four teams from the elite class are expected among the 22 teams that will take part.
Fink promised a route for an "exceptionally watchable race", adding that the "stages are set for up to four hours of racing, speeds will be high, and everybody will get their opportunity along the route."
The five-day race will start on 15 June in Nova Gorica, with the first stage ending in Postojna. The second stage will take the competitors from Ptuj to Rogaška Slatina, and the third stage from Žalec to Celje, featuring a key climb.
On the fourth day, 18 June, the caravan will run from Laško to the Velika Planina plateau, passing Pogačar's native village of Klanec, while the last stage will take the cyclists from Vrhnika to Novo Mesto.
While the race will be an opportunity to prove who is the best ahead of the Tour de France, the organisers also expect that Slovenia would be promoted as a good host of international sporting events and a green tourist destination.
In addition to the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija, the race will again be broadcast live by the international sports network Eurosport for a total of ten hours. The live broadcast will be available in 130 countries.
