From the solitude of a high-altitude training camp to the hustle and bustle of a home crowd. Tadej Pogachar, who has been holed up in Livigno for the past few weeks preparing for the Tour de France, will check his form on familiar roads in the Tour of Slovenia.

The five-day Tour of Slovenia kicks off Wednesday in Nova Gorica, and while the main event in July is expected to be the Slovenian Derby against Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma), as it was in 2020, Pogachar alone will be the star on this eve.

The 23-year-old Pogachar has not raced since finishing 12th in Flèche Wallonne in April, and like in 2021, he has chosen not to tune up for the Tour at the Criterium du Dauphiné or Tour de Suisse, instead taking advantage of the rare opportunity to race in his home country and instead chose to take advantage of the rare opportunity to race in his home country.

Twelve months ago, Pogachar followed an almost identical course. After winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he had been away from racing for six and a half weeks, but in Slovenia he won the second stage to Celje and made a significant step toward the final overall win.

This time, Pogachar was away from racing for eight weeks due to the structure of the calendar and because he missed Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He will have a busy spring schedule that includes Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders, and will compete in the Vuelta a España after the Tour.

"It's been a while since I last wore the number, so I'm really looking forward to getting back into racing," Pogachar said.

"I'm training at high altitude in Livigno and the team atmosphere is good. I felt pretty good in training, but it's always difficult to know exactly how I'm feeling until I get to the race."

Pogachar competed in his first Tour of Slovenia in 2017, his first year out of junior, and the race gave him an early chance to test himself against WorldTour pros. He finished fifth behind future teammate Rafal Majka, suggesting that it was possible.

A year later, Pogachar moved up to fourth overall in the race won by Roglic, and he would challenge for the Tour de France podium a month later.In 2019, as a neo-pro, he had to settle for fourth place again, this time with UAE Team He finished behind Diego Ulissi, who is a member of the Emirates.

By the time the Tour of Slovenia returned to the calendar in 2021 after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Pogachal was in a very different position. The race was both a homecoming after his victory in the Tour de France the previous year and a statement of intent to defend his title.

Pogachar, who was competing in his fifth Tour de Slovenia, was carrying the Dossard No. 1 and backed by the strongest team. With seven wins already this season, Pogachar is a strong contender to break that record again this week. In many ways, his performance will be measured not against the rest of the Slovenian contingent, but against what the absent Roglic and Jumbo Bisma achieved last week at the Dauphiné.

Roglic's overall victory over teammate Jonas Vingegaard raises hopes that Pogachar will be closer to the Dauphiné this July than he was last year.

Then again, in the spring when Pogachar was busy winning Strade Bianche and creating panic in the peloton in Milan-San Remo and Tour de Flanders, he was being compared to Eddy Merckx rather than his countryman. At times he seemed to be running his own race. And that is what is expected in Slovenia this week, despite the presence of players like Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) and Majka.

In addition to Pogachar, Slovenia will be represented by Maja, Mikkel Bjarg, Jan Polanc, Rui Oliveira, Vegard Stake Rengen, and sprinter Pascal Ackermann. The three teams competing in the World Tour are Bahrain Victorious with Mohoric and Jan Tratnik, Bike Exchange Jayco with Matteo Sobrero and Lucas Hamilton, and Astana Kazakstan with Fabio Ferrigne.

The terrain would be most suitable for Pogachar, with four of the five stages being climb stages. The first day will feature a Category 2 climb up Razdolt followed by a 15km plateau to the finish at Rogaska Slachina. The third stage is a Category 2 climb up Svetina, followed by 2km to the finish in Celje, which Pogachar won a year ago; the final stage finishes on the summit of the challenging Velika Planina, followed by the Grande Novo Mesto The finale includes a short, sharp climb up Trska Gora on the run-in.

When the race organization issued a statement a few days ago in this year's press room proudly pointing out its growing international presence, one could not help but be reminded of the Nissan Classics of the 1980s. Normally, a bicycle race in Ireland in early October would not attract much attention, but the presence of world number ones Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche guaranteed a huge crowd along the route and international press attention. One of the regulars was correspondent Jean-Marie Leblanc (L'Équipe), soon to be appointed director of the Tour de France.

Pogachar, which takes place this week in Slovenia, will likely attract similar attention from the press and the public. Indeed, just as the Nissan Classic routinely visited Kerry's territory of Carrick-on-Suir, the 2022 Tour of Slovenia will pass through Pogachar's hometown of Komenda on Saturday. [It will conclude with a Category 1 summit finish in Velika Planina (7.7 km, 7.9%). This is exactly the kind of terrain that the defending Tour champion will want to put a marker on before a major rendezvous.

"I know the roads and climbs well, and I'm looking forward to seeing friends and family who will be cheering me on in the race," Pogachar said.

"The course will be tough and there will be some strong competitors, but I'm looking forward to a good result and a good race week."

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