Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič will co-lead the elite men's Slovenian team at the UCI Road World Championships held from September 21-29 in Zurich.
The national team announced the seven-rider team, stating that their ambition was to win medals in both the 46.1km individual time trial on September 22 and the 279.3km road race on September 29.
"I'm in my third year in this position. We put in a lot of effort to be able to bring all our best riders who compete in the WorldTour to go with common goals to this championship," national coach Uroš Murn told MMC RTV.
“The goal is to win a medal in both the time trial and the road race. We have a big contender for the time trial in Primož. We are counting on one medal for the road race, but it could be two, of course. We will need a bit of luck.”
Roglič will be the only rider representing Slovenia in the elite men's time trial and the nation will have one of the most powerful seven-rider teams for the elite men's road race.
"The route of the road race is very demanding, 4,500 metres in height, 273.9km long race. In Zurich, there are very demanding climbs, one part is flat by the lake, then you go to the top, and round the hills above the lake," Murn said.
Pogačar lines up having won the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France along with Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège earlier this season. Roglič will also be a favourite having recently won the Vuelta a España, and he came back to win the Critérium du Dauphiné after recovering from a serious crash at the Itzulia Basque Country in April.
"In the era of modern sports, this is something unimaginable, what our riders are doing. This is not only a Slovenian phenomenon, I call it a global phenomenon, that we have two riders who have won all the three-week races in one year and who come from small Slovenia," Murn said.
"This is unimaginable also for the rest of the world. But we must not forget the other guys who also contribute a lot to these successes."
"We understand that the riders have their club programs, which are very crowded, tiring, and adapted to the races and preparations themselves. They also have to coordinate their family life, which they must not neglect. For me, personally, it is an extremely great honour and pride that I can be part of this story."
In addition to Pogačar and Roglič, the team will include Matej Mohoric, Jan Tratnik, Domen Novak, Luka Mezgec and Matevz Govekar.
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