From 18-hour drives in a mini-van to the top of the cycling world: teenage buddies Primožic and Pogačar reunited in Rwanda. ‘Maybe he will try to beat his 100km Zurich attack and go early.’
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – AUGUST 06: (L-R) Luka Mezgec of Slovenia, Jaka Primozic of Slovenia and Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia prior to the 96th UCI Cycling World Championships Glasgow 2023, Men Elite Road Race a 271.1km one day race from Edinburgh to Glasgow / #UCIWT / on August 06, 2023 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Published September 24, 2025 09:48AM
The other teams at the Rwanda worlds would do well not to mess with the teammate of Tadej Pogačar, Jaka Primožič, during Sunday’s road race.
Aside from racing his bike hard on the UCI Continental circuit through the year, he is a part-time soldier in the Slovenian army’s sports unit.
Professional cycling teams might talk about planning a race like a military operation; he has done the real thing.
“We slept in tents in the mountains. We do some shooting, we’re driving with tanks,” the 26-year-old tells Velo.
From cycling cranks to army tanks
Pushing his end-of-season energy to the limit, every October or November, he swaps the radioactive green kit of Slovenia for camouflage fatigues and does several days of special training.
Last winter, as part of survival training, he spent four days living like a normal soldier in the middle of nowhere, pitching tents, catching fish and baking potatoes on a fire.
“They showed us how to kill a snake,” he adds. “It was zero degrees and raining in the night so I didn’t sleep a lot.”
Primožič is in good company in the army’s sport unit, alongside numerous leading Slovenian sportspeople such as Olympic champion judoka Andrea Leški and former world champion discus thrower Kristijan Čeh.
The experience can be an eye-opener for some athletes, who are used to a cushy life and comfy hotels on their circuits.
“It’s good to see this stuff, especially for the young guys who are a bit spoiled,” Primožič says.
Primožič also features in occasional publicity events or congresses for the army through the year. “I think sportspeople get more respect: everybody listens to us explaining how the Slovenian army works and what he do,” he says.
He clarifies – he has ridden in a tank, but has not driven one (yet).
It probably handles quite differently to his lightweight Hrinkow road bike.
Bike racer first, soldier second
Jaka Primožič during the 2024 Worlds road race in Switzerland. (Photo by Joan Cros – Corbis/Getty Images)
Primožič joined the army’s sports unit back in 2020.
“Our country is helping athletes with employment. Some sports are really poor so this helps them quite a bit,” he tells Velo.
“When I was younger, it was really, really helpful. It’s still really nice to have some kind of other income.”
His day job is as a bike racer, even if Primožic rides for a much more modest salary and squad than the likes of his teammates in Rwanda, such as Pogačar, Primož Roglič and Matej Mohorič.
He is part of Team Hrinkow Advarics, an Austrian-registered team in the UCI Continental division (the sport’s third tier), racing predominantly category 2 races.
Mini-van memories from Pogačar’s homeboy
Primožič takes part in the under-23 time-trial at the 2019 worlds. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
‘Pogi’ and ‘Poco’, the nickname many of his team-mates call him by, go a very long way back. Born in December 1998, three months after the Slovenian superstar, Primožič is of similar weight and height.
The pair were both rival climbers in their teenage racing days.
“It was pretty rough,” he says. “We were enemies when we raced in Slovenia and [over the border] in Italy, but with the national team, we were best friends.”
They raced internationally for the Slovenian national team all over Europe, taking mammoth journeys in a mini-van to events like the junior Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour de l’Avenir.
“If you asked Tadej about that, he would just laugh. We were living there. We drove 18 hours to Belgium in it, we didn’t have money for plane tickets,” Primožič recalls.
Primožič had the beating of Pogačar on numerous occasions as a junior. Finishing in the top 10 at the junior worlds road race and time-trial in 2016, he was also briefly ranked number on Pro Cycling Stats’ international junior rankings.
However, the tables turned when they raced as elites, starting in 2017.
His performances as an under-23 rider were damaged by mononucleosis, though he was part of his friend’s 2018 Tour de l’Avenir winning team.
Pogačar’s star has only kept rising over the last decade, though Primožič says he is little-changed by the fame and success.
“I still talk to Tadej every now and then. He sends me reels on Instagram and jokes. He’s a really nice guy, I can’t say a bad thing about him.”
Just like old times for Pogi
Primožič (furthest right) celebrates his teammate’s sensational win at the 2024 worlds in Zurich. (Photo: ABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
Slovenia have experience and firepower in their arsenal in Rwanda, with Primož Roglič, Matej Mohorič, Domen Novak and Luka Mezgec also lining up alongside Primožič and Pogačar in the nine-rider team for the elite men’s road race.
Having had his injections and taken malaria tablets with him, this will be Primožič’s third time at the elite world championships. He also competed in the 2022 and 2024 races, aware of how good the vibes are at worlds.
“The nicest thing is Slovenia is really small. All the cyclists know each other. It’s really nice to speak Slovenian at the dinner table and everywhere you go.”
With friend Žiga Jerman also on hand as Tadej Pogačar’s soigneur, there is another talented Slovenian ex-racer from their “class of 1998” to add to the relaxed atmosphere.
“Tadej feels when I’m there, he’s at home,’ Primožič says. “Also with Žiga there, they have an hour and a half for his jokes, from 10 years back. We can talk stupid stuff.”
An 150km Pogačar attack in Rwanda? ‘I hope so’
Pogačar tears through the lead group on the way to his first rainbow jersey. (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Pogačar even called his own escape to victory in Zurich some 12 months ago ‘stupid’, but his unexpected 100km raid paid off as he won the rainbow jersey, stunning fans and rivals.
On the Swiss roads, Primožič protected Pogačar’s back wheel early in the race and helped Roglič. After doing his job and abandoning the race, he was waiting for the winner beyond the finish line to embrace him.
So, what is the plan in Kigali’s 267.5km race on Saturday? A 150-kilometer move?
“I hope so, less work for me!” the Slovenian says. “Maybe he will try to beat himself again and go early,” he says.
With 5,500 meters of climbing around the Rwandan capital, the route could be even more selective than the Swiss suffer-fest.
“It really depends on the other teams: I think everybody knows what our tactics are,” Primožič says. “If the other teams get nervous and they start to attack, we have to control that in some way,” he says.
Chasing more gold at the end of his rainbow spell
(Photo: Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
Another rainbow jersey for the dominant force in road racing would give Primožič a happy ending to his disastrous season.
The 26-year-old broke his collarbone and pelvis in March at the Tour of Taiwan when in the virtual race lead, missing several months of racing.
Whatever happens, Sunday’s race is not set to be his last worlds of the season. Mixing both his jobs, Primožič is expected to take part in the Military World Championships cyclo-cross event for Slovenia in late November.
“I don’t even have the bike for it, I need to get that first,” he says, laughing.
For now, helping his old friend to retain his rainbow jersey in Rwanda is the priority.
You can read more about Jaka Primožič and his insights into Tadej Pogačar in Andy McGrath’s biography of the four-time Tour de France champion. Tadej Pogačar: Unstoppable, published by Bloomsbury, is out in November 2025.