Ever wondered how you’d fare against the top-ranked cyclist in the world? Well, wonder no more. This October, Tadej Pogačar is welcoming fans and racing hopefuls to Slovenia, to go up against him – in the flesh – on one of his local climbs.
Registration opened this week for the ‘Pogi Challenge’, a cycling event scheduled for 12 October in which participants will ride alongside, and against, Pogačar on his home Krvavec climb.
The route is only 23km in length, made up of a 9.1km group roll-out in the world champion’s hometown of Komenda, and then a 13.9km race up the mountain. Participants will start the climb a few minutes before Pogačar, who will then “start the hunt”, according to the official Pogi Challenge website.
“The main challenge will be to keep up his pace and reach the summit before him. Tadej will personally congratulate all those who manage to do so as true winners,” the organisers say.
Entries are on a first-come-first-served basis, and can be made now on the Pogi Challenge website, with tickets priced at €125. There are only 1,189 places available on the ride, coinciding with the number of metres of climbing – 1,189m.
“I’m already training in the sun in Sierra Nevada at altitude,” Pogačar said in a promotional video. “In the meantime, I still have a few small races ahead. I hope you’ll be ready for my challenge.”
The climb to Krvavec, pitched at an average gradient of 7.6%, was one of the Slovenian’s regular training mountains before he moved to Monaco. It was on its slopes that he earned his first ever victory, competing in the boys category in 2009, just 10 years old.
Unsurprisingly, Pogačar holds the Strava KOM on the climb, a crown that he took in 2020, months before his first of three Tour de France victories.
The official Strava segment is 11.56km long and rises 969m. Pogačar’s record is 33 minutes and 39 seconds, an average speed of 20.6kph.
Entries for the Pogi Challenge will remain open until all 1,189 places are filled. The organisers have promised a meet and greet at the summit of the mountain, as well as a music concert.
This is not the first time Pogačar has taken part in fan sportives. In previous years, he has joined a leg of the PlumeStrong Challenge, a five-day event that goes from Zurich, Switzerland to Venice, Italy, raising money for education charities around the world.
