Slovenian national coach Uroš Murn has said that his elite men's team are "better prepared" for the Road World Championships in Rwanda than they were last year, where Tadej Pogačar soloed to a dominant victory in Switzerland.
Speaking at a press conference before heading to Africa, Murn admitted that Slovenia are the favourites to take home the elite men's rainbow jersey once again, with Pogačar top of the favourites list.
Murn also named Primož Roglič, who arrives in Rwanda off the back of a two-week altitude training camp, will be another rider to watch at the 267.5km race on September 28.
"We are the favourites. The first favourite is the defending champion Pogačar, but I also count on Roglič to turn the tables in Slovenia's favour in the end," Murn said, according to RTV.slo.
"Roglič will join us directly from the high-altitude preparation. He went to Sierra Nevada for 14 days on his own initiative, and we all know how prepared he is when he comes straight to the races."
Murn said he hopes that Roglič will be on hand in the final of the race in Kigali, with the 35-year-old able to "mix things up", even if Pogačar is the team's outright leader.
Roglič's most recent outing came at the Donostia San Sebastián Klasikoa last month, where he finished 22nd. Meanwhile, Pogačar took second place behind UAE teammate Brandon McNulty at the recent GP Montréal.
"I believe that Primož will be perfectly prepared, so that he can mix things up in the final and ensure the outcome," Murn said.
"But the first favourite is definitely Tadej, who has now proven his strength in the races in Canada, just like last year.
"There will be no hiding places for us in these Championships. Everyone will race against us. I expect some individual escapes from the start, and then an attempt by those in the stronger group to break away somewhere two-thirds of the way."
Murn also talked about team strategy ahead of the race. He said that he expects his team to go on the attack less than they did in Zürich. Instead, they'll hope to cover moves and aim to place a rider in an early breakaway.
"I don't think we will attack, just like we didn't last year. The main thing is to cover the escape of good cyclists like last year," he said.
"I expect a similar story this year, that one of our riders will be there. I expect that he will be well prepared, certainly better than last year, Domen Novak, as well as Gal Glivar. Both of them successfully completed the Vuelta.
"We saw that Matej Mohorič is good, probably in the best condition this year. I would say that we have an almost better prepared national team than last year. It's a shame that Jan Tratnik is not there."
Before tackling the road race, however, attention will first turn to the individual time trial on Sunday, September 21.
Defending champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) is the top favourite for glory once again, but Pogačar also has a chance on the 40.6km route, which features 680 metres of climbing.
"When he saw the time trial route, he immediately knew he had a chance to win," Murn said. "I think we will be watching a duel between Belgian Remco Evenepoel and Pogačar."
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