Tadej Pogačar beats Primož Roglič to Slovenian time trial title

Tadej Pogačar has beaten Primož Roglič to defend his Slovenian national time trial title.

The UAE Team Emirates rider rode the 15.7km course in 31 minutes 10 seconds, nine seconds faster than Roglič, with Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) third, a minute and a half further back.

Janez Brajkovič (Adria Mobil) was fourth, at a deficit of 1-53, while Marko Pavlič rounded out the top five.

The Bahrain-McLaren duo of Domen Novak and Grega Bole finished sixth and seventh respectively.

The 2020 course ran from Zgornje Gorje to Pokljuka in the north-east of the country near the border with Austria, while in last year's race around the capital of Ljubljana, Pogačar beat Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-McLaren) by nearly 30 seconds.

Last week Roglič had beaten Pogačar to the 2020 Slovenian road race title, with the course finishing atop a steep final climb of 8.3km, its average gradient being 7.8 per cent.

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The duo had broken away from the rest of the field as the finish line approached, with Roglič attacking and dropping Pogačar in the final kilometre, finishing 10 seconds ahead of his younger compatriot.

Result

Slovenian National ITT Championships - Elite Men - Zgornje Gorje to Pokljuka (15.7km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), in 31-10

2. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), at nine seconds

3. Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), at 1-47

4. Janez Brajkovic (Adria Mobil), at 1-53

5. Marko Pavlič, at 2-52

6. Domen Novak (Bahrain-McLaren), at 3-01

7. Grega Bole (Bahrain-McLaren), at 3-10

8. Kristjan Hočevar (Adria Mobil), at 3-55

9. Nik Čemažar, at 3-57

10. Matej Mugerli (Continental Team Sport.Land. Niederösterreich), at 4-07