Discover a typographically diverse, primarily forested and mountainous country with incredible climbing opportunities for intrepid cyclists to conquer. You'll find these towering high in the Triglav National Park in the far northwestern part of this tiny country half the size of Switzerland and covers 20,273 square kilometres. Along the borders that join Italy and Austria are the High Alps and the Julian Alps, including Slovenia's highest peak, Mount Triglav, at 2,864 metres. One can cycle numerous well-kept routes in a pristine, natural environment in Slovenia in the centre of Europe, connecting three countries, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and the Adriatic Sea.
You can choose to go on an incredible journey of discovery with ROUVY on routes that traverse the majestic and towering Julian Alps in the northwest with spectacular mountainous landscapes suited to the more enthusiastic cyclist but also enjoy a lot of flat, picturesque roads along meandering emerald-green crystal-clear rivers and glacial lakes, in the Bovec region and the Soča river valley before the climbing starts. These popular and famous roads are the ideal training ground for many top Slovenian pro road cyclists, such as Tadej Pogačar, Primož Rogljič, and Matej Mohorič, that would have undoubtedly honed their climbing skills.
An ideal training ground for the best of the best
The top Slovenian pros are Tadej Pogačar, currently riding for the UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates, Primož Rogljič for Team Jumbo–Visma and Matej Mohorič for Bahrain-Victorious.
Pogačar won the 2020 and 2021 Tour de France, winning three different jerseys in each Tour and compared to legends such as Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Fausto Coppi, who were skilled in all types of terrains such as the time-trial, one-day classics and climbing. His list of victories is so long that I won't elaborate in this article. Still, it's incredible how the young rider has taken over the top rankings early in his career and continues into 2023 to dominate the peloton.
Primož Rogljič began his sporting career as a ski jumper and turned to cycling following a fall. Rogljič has many achievements in races such as La Vuelta, Paris-Nice and Criterium du Dauphine. Unfortunately, many falls disrupted some of his races. He was awarded the Golden Order of Merit in 2021 for sporting excellence putting Slovenia firmly on the world sports map.
Matej Mohorič was the Slovenian road race champion for 2018 and 2021 and has won many stage races since 2014, when he turned professional. In 2022, Mohorič won the monument Milan-San Remo, attacking on the descent of the Poggio using a somewhat controversial method of a dropper seat post.
Popular Slovenian routes to bring your cycling to a higher level
We can in no way compare ourselves to these Slovenian pros. Still, there are ways to up our game, and that is not only through strength training but also mental toughness through climbing, and that is something special that the champions have mastered - a skill also in favour of the more lightweight riders with power in their legs. They have made it an art to embrace the climbs, find a regular rhythm and hang on to the end. With gains in fitness through consistency, this is achievable by anyone with practice and a reduced BMI and W/kg, making it a lot easier.
Let's take on three popular and testing Slovenia routes on ROUVY and enjoy the magnificent views and scenery while getting fit and improving our climbing skills. Challenge yourself and conquer Slovenia's magnificent, highest and most famous and historic passes in the far Northwestern side of the country, where we will journey through and explore the spectacular and rugged Julian Alps in the magnificent Triglav National Park.
