This Saturday again, Katia was in front of her TV in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
She missed nothing of the epic duel between her two darlings Tadej Pogacar, winner of the 2020 Tour, and Primoz Roglic.
This Sunday, she proudly waved her Slovenian flags at arm's length at the top of the Champs-Elysées, alongside her husband and her two children, in the only area open for the 5,000 authorized spectators.
“We decided to come on Saturday on a whim.
We took the plane at dawn and left in the evening to be at the office on Monday morning.
But we couldn't miss it: it's a historic day for our country, ”says Katia.
A stone's throw away, Alen and his friends approach with the same pride the horizontal colors white, blue and red of this small Balkan nation which has received a real spotlight, the story of a tour.
They also came to Paris on purpose for the occasion: "We came to sing our national anthem when Tadej and Primoz will pass in front of us," they explain.
We already have the hairs that stand on the skin when they think about it.
The emotion of our whole nation is very strong.
We are living a very great moment.
What is happening around the Tour in Slovenia is sheer madness.
"
“Between Primoz and Tadej, we had no preference.
The two are great champions, heroes on a par, ”assures Samo, who also made the trip.
However, there is only one who registered his name for the first time on the prestigious list of the biggest race in the world: Tadej Pogacar.
A kid with a teenage face celebrating his 22nd birthday this Monday.
A hurried prodigy on which cycling experts will now look.
What will they find when Pogacar came out clean after all his doping controls.
Katia, her husband and their children took a dawn plane this Sunday morning from Ljubljana to witness this historic moment./LP/EM
But not everyone in their team, UAE Emirates, has a clean past.
Like the Swiss sports director, Mauro Gianetti, and the Spanish manager, Joxean Matxin Fernandez, eat.
The two men were already on the Tour in 2008, in the Hispanic Saunier-Duval team, a boiler manufacturer… the nickname given to doped people in the peloton.
They were united around the Italian Riccardo Ricco, a prodigy too, expelled from the Tour by the police for doping that year.
But suspicion is a word that doesn't seem to translate into Slovene.
"It's good French to think of such things," Jaka smiles, wearing a yellow t-shirt bearing the effigy of the two stars of the day.
You forget that Pogacar is a huge champion.
Do not seek evil!
”Metka Ipavic, the Ambassador of Slovenia in France, also emphasizes the positive side:“ The exploits of our runners allow millions of people to know our country better.
A Slovenian who wins the biggest race in the world, it's incredible.
Who could have imagined that would happen one day?
"
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Not many people, not even the President of the Republic of the country, Borut Pahor, who, with a yellow mask on his face, is jubilant: “What is happening at home with the Tour de France is something immense.
I myself am a big fan of cycling, I think this is one of the best Tours we have experienced.
I know our two champions personally and I hope that Tadej, who is still very young, will win others.
I wish him, I wish it on us Slovenes.
"
