Slovenia's Golden Era: one year, three grand tours

On Sunday Primož Roglič wrapped up the 2024 Vuelta a España and in doing so, continued Slovenia’s spectacular grand tour success. 

With Pogačar completing the first Giro-Tour double for 26 years and Roglič’s record-equalling fourth Vuelta victory, 2024 is the pinnacle of Slovenia’s golden era at male grand tours. 

The last 20 years of grand tours can be divided into three eras of national dominance: we are currently in a grand tour era dominated by Slovenia. The other eras belonged to Spain and Britain.

Such has been the dominance of these three countries in their respective eras, since 2000 there have only been three seasons in which neither Spain, Britain nor Slovenia have not won at least one of the grand tours - in 2010, 2014 and 2022. 

Spain had plenty of Grand Tour success in the noughties. This included the 2008 complete grand tour set when Alberto Contador’s Giro and Vuelta wins sandwiched Carlos Sastre’s Tour victory.

Then came the British period of success - largely dominated by Team Sky’s results, spearheaded by Chris Froome but also including Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart, as well as Simon Yates winning the 2018 Vuelta riding for what was then the Mitchelton-Scott team.

2018 was the year when Britain clinched all three grand tours with Froome’s Giro and Thomas’ Tour successes. 2018 still remains unique in being the only year in which three different riders from the same country won a grand tour. 

The current era of Slovenian domination followed, and bar Geoghegan Hart’s 2020 Giro victory, Slovenia all but ended the British era. Since the country’s first win - Roglič at the 2019 Vuelta - Slovenia has won nine of the sixteen Grand Tours.

This year is the most impressive so far.

Not only did Pogačar and Roglič take home the GC wins but on the way they came away with 15 of the 63 stages. This means that roughly one in every four grand tour stages were won by one of the Slovenians. The only country that came close was Belgium which won 11 stages.

It has been a year of Grand Tours dominated by Slovenia. In previous seasons, other Slovenians Matej Mohorič and Jan Polanc have won grand tour stages. However, the difference this year was that the incredible success was down to just two main protagonists - Pogačar and Roglič. 

Despite the recency of Spain and Britain’s grand tour golden eras - both of which saw multiple different riders bring home success - the current Slovenian era is perhaps most reminiscent of France’s success in 1964.

1964 was the first year all three grand tours were won by the same country, when Jacques Anquetil won the Giro-Tour double and Raymond Poulidor won the Vuelta. 

Anquetil and Poulidor may have been countrymen but they were also rivals. 

It was never more dramatic than in 1964 when Anquetil led Poulidor by 56 seconds on stage 20 which finished atop Puy de Dôme. In a legendary battle, they rode side by side up the mountain for more than 9km until Poulidor eventually pulled away and managed to beat Anquetil by 42 seconds.

It was not enough to win the Tour and Anquetil claimed his fifth Tour win a few days later.

Poulidor never went on to win the Tour.

The Anquetil-Poulidor battle on Puy de Dôme has gone down in history.

More than 50 years later, the stage 20 time trial of the 2020 Tour on La Planche des Belles Filles proved to be similarly historic. 

Before the stage Roglič was in the yellow jersey, leading Pogačar by 57 seconds, and Slovenia was on the verge of having its first Tour champion. However, it turned out not to be the Slovenian that everyone expected - Pogačar blasted up the climb and beat his compatriot by almost two minutes.

Pogačar has won the Tour three times. Roglič has never come as close as he did in 2020, when he was just 24 hours away from the overall victory. 

Whether or not he wins the Tour one day, it does not take away from his vital role as part of the Slovenia golden era. He began it all in 2019 with his first Vuelta win. 

The era is only five years old. And 2024 is not over yet. No country has won all three grand tours and the world championships in one season. Could that change on Sunday 29th September in Zurich?

All images reproduced from Wikimedia Commons with the exception of tables - author's own work