Slovenia's cycling superstar tops UCI world rankings for sixth consecutive year

Slovenian cycling ace Tadej Pogačar did not end the season the way he had wanted to, having had to skip several major races after crashing out of the Vuelta, but that has not dimmed his dominance.

He tops the men's elite UCI world ranking for the sixth consecutive year, and the gap between him and the second-placed rider is still huge, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

The 28-year-old Pogačar scored 9,332 points, securing a more than comfortable advantage of some 2,100 points ahead of the runner-up, Belgium's Remco Evenepoel. The Slovenian scored most of his points in stage races (nearly 5,800).

The injuries the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider sustained in a crash at the Vuelta in late August prevented him from defending his world road race title and forced him to end the season early, but he still bagged a number of major victories, including the record-equalling fifth Tour de France title and his first win at the Milan-San Remo classic.

He has returned to regular training since, and his main goals for the next season are the Road World Championships, Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana, the last being the only Grand Tour he has not yet won.

The second-best Slovenian in the ranking is Primož Roglič at 24th, while the country's young hope Jakob Omrzel is 81st. The 20-year-old won a Vuelta a Espana stage this year, becoming the youngest Grand Tour stage winner in Slovenia's history.

In the UCI nation ranking, which takes into account the points achieved by the country's eight highest-ranking riders, Slovenia have been demoted by two places and now rank fifth. Belgium is at the summit of the ranking, followed by France and Denmark.

Photo: Instagram/tadejpogacar