Cycling power couple Tadej Pogačar and Urška Žigart are set to star in an upcoming children’s picture book, available in their home nation of Slovenia next week.
The pair appear as central characters in Pogi pa Pika a fantasy adventure that will be published by Slovenian publisher Skrateljc.
The publisher’s website says the story, written by Uroš Grilc and Gregor Goršič, will “take you to the fairy-tale world of elves, giants and dragons and inspires young and old to cycle”.
The story, published on 1 July, will doubtless provide some entertainment for the pair between training rides for their upcoming races. Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG is currently training at altitude at Isola 2000 in the French Alps and will next race at the Tour de France starting on 5 July. Meanwhile, Žigart (AG Insurance-Soudal) is set to contest the time trial and road race at the Slovenian national Championships next weekend.
Publisher Skrateljc has a range of adventure and children’s books in Slovenian about fairies, witches and other fantasy characters. It says its mission is to “promote participation in culture across various age groups, to encourage activities in nature and to initiate product development for creative tourism”.
The Tour de France champion is an active promoter of his homeland’s tourism industry and this week was named as one of three ambassadors for the country alongside rock climber Janja Garnbret and pop band Joker Out.
“Every morning I get a fresh feeling of excitement, especially in Slovenia waking up in this environment with these views,” the three-time Tour winner says in a promotional video for the country.
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Tadej Pogačar training for Tour de France in Slovenia - YouTube
“It’s impossible to resist the call of high mountains, that’s where I do best, the higher the better for me. These landscapes shaped the way I cycle. I close my eyes I can still feel the sense of freedom I had growing up here.”
The campaign entitled From Slovenia, with love trumpets the cycling credentials of Kranjska Gora, which sits on the border with Italy and Austria and Cerklje na Gorenjskem, which sits at the foot of the Alps in the Ljubljana Basin. Pogačar is quoted as saying Kranjska Gora is “where I spent most of my time on my bike”.
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Having trained as a journalist at Cardiff University I spent eight years working as a business journalist covering everything from social care, to construction to the legal profession and riding my bike at the weekends and evenings. When a friend told me Cycling Weekly was looking for a news editor, I didn't give myself much chance of landing the role, but I did and joined the publication in 2016. Since then I've covered Tours de France, World Championships, hour records, spring classics and races in the Middle East. On top of that, since becoming features editor in 2017 I've also been lucky enough to get myself sent to ride my bike for magazine pieces in Portugal and across the UK. They've all been fun but I have an enduring passion for covering the national track championships. It might not be the most glamorous but it's got a real community feeling to it.
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