After a rapid rise to the top of professional cycling, Slovenia could be in line to host the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2029 with initial contact reportedly being made with race organiser ASO.
Thanks to the success of three-time Tour champion Tadej Pogačar, four-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič and Milan-San Remo winner Matej Mohorič, Slovenia has become one of the leading nations in the sport even with its small population of 2.1 million people.
Roglič is likely to have retired in 2029 but Pogačar is under contract with UAE Team Emirates and so the final years of his career could include a home Grand Départ.
The first foreign Grand Départ of the Tour was in the Netherlands in 1954, with 11 different countries going on to host the opening stages since then. If Slovenia is to become a future Grand Départ host, there are a few governmental steps that need to be taken. However the local organisers are ambitious.
"The first talks have been held, including one with the director of ASO. The French side is ready, ASO is ready to listen. But now we would need some kind of government letter of intent," Tomaž Ambrožič told RTV Slovenija.
Ambrožič is the founder and director of Sport Media Focus, who organise L'Etape Slovenia by Tour de France, as part of ASO's worldwide L'Etape series. This connection has made the idea of a Slovenian Grand Départ possible.
"Is Slovenia ready to try this? I hope so," continued Ambrožič. "Maybe this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is not an impossible and unfeasible dream."
According to Ambrožič, the mayor of Kranj, Slovenia's third-largest city, Matjaž Rakovec, who is a partner of the L'Etape event in Slovenia, has presented the initiative to Matjaž Han - the Minister of the Economy, Tourism and Sport in Slovenia's government.
It will now up to Han and the government to move the 'dream' forward and make further contact with ASO, who have agreed to more and more foreign Grand Departs in the last decade.
While Slovenia's national cycling federation, the Kolesarska zveza Slovenije (KSV), is not directly involved in any proposal according to RTVSlo, it has expressed support for Slovenia hosting the opener of the Tour in four years.
"This is definitely the wish of Slovenian cycling. We have champions, guest appearances are possible. We are not closing the door to such cooperation," said Rok Lozej, President of the KSV.
The cost of hosting an international Grand Départ is usually above ten million Euro, with other local coss such as police and safety measures. To share the costs, Slovenia could work with regional neighbours in Italy, specifically the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.
Lozej was at the Giro route presentation on Monday, where he had time to catch-up with Paolo Urbani, project manager of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region's stages at the upcoming Giro d'Italia.
2025 marks an important year in Italian cycling. It is 100 years since Ottavio Bottecchia became the first Italian to win the Tour de France, with a joint bid for a Slovenian-Italian Grand Depart in 2029 offering up the perfect chance to honour him.
"The goal is to honour Bottecchia," said Urbani to TuttoBiciWeb.
"If the Tour started from Slovenia we could reach an agreement with our neighbour to have part of a stage pass through our roads, perhaps to honour the great Venetian champion from San Martino Colle Umberto, the first Italian to win the Tour de France 100 years ago and who died in tragic circumstances in 1927."
