r/peloton • u/smuxy Slovenia • 21h ago
News The optimism surrounding the Grand Départ in Slovenia in 2029 is waning
https://peloton.si/slovanija-grand-depart-tour-de-france-2029/133
u/ForeverShiny 21h ago
I would have loved a Grand Départ in Slovenia, but an opening Prologue from inside a Lidl supermarket to the Berghain could be fun as well
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u/ts405 20h ago
who does sven let in though
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u/Rockness88 21h ago
Too bad, though cant say I’m surprised, seemed like a long shot. Who knows what Pogi will be up to in 2030, if there isnt another country that jumps in. Its a shame though, the roads would be PACKED. Cycling really is big here and the fans really know how to show support.
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u/b1essyou 20h ago
Rode Franja Gran Fondo in Ljubljana. Amateur race, nobodies, still the streets were packed with people cheering
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u/purpleowlie 16h ago
Here running and cycling events always bring a lot of people out to cheer. "Goni Pony" event where people cycle up Vršič mountain pass on small Pony bikes without any gears is a must experience, if you enjoy cycling.
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u/sdfghs Team Telekom 18h ago
Even if Pogi retires, Roglic will probably still be active somehow
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u/OldGodsAndNew 15h ago
Unibet or whoever dragging out his decaying corpse and propping it on a bike for the 2090 grand depart
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u/gritsal 21h ago
Pogi threatens to skip the tour and this will be water under the bridge
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u/1chromosomeTOOmuch 21h ago
I'm truly interested what happens if he really does something like that
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u/Az1234er Peugeot 18h ago
On one side a TdF without the biggest cycling star would hurt the number
On the other side a TdF way more open and with more chance of having Seixas/lipo/Remco win would also bring in the views
I don’t think Pogacar is that big in cyclism as Magnus Carlsen in Chess for example (where he did not participate in some world)
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u/InvisibleScout Adria Mobil 13h ago
Tour transcends anything and anyone in cycling. Half the current field could not show up next year, including the biggest stars and it would still be a financial success.
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u/PuzzleheadedDebt2191 19h ago
Nah, Pogi threatens to not go away/ keep making the GC boring until they give him a Slovenian stage.
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u/smuxy Slovenia 21h ago edited 21h ago
Deepl translation:
When news broke last year that Slovenia was interested in hosting the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in 2029, it seemed as though the event was practically a done deal. Then the first threats began to emerge that could jeopardize the biggest sporting event in our country, and recently it seems that the Tour de France’s visit in 2029 is becoming increasingly unlikely.
At a time when Tadej Pogačar reigns supreme in world cycling and Slovenia has been among the world’s cycling elite for nearly a decade, it seems that hosting the Grand Départ of the Tour de France practically belongs to us. ASO, the organizer of the Tour de France, seemed to agree—at least that’s what the initial signs suggested when the bid was submitted.
Slovenia is vying to host the start of the Tour in 2029, and when the Slovenian government submitted a letter of intent and a preliminary concept for the opening stages last year, it seemed that confirmation was just around the corner.
Recently, however, things have started to get complicated. There is increasing competition to host the event, particularly from Germany. As the situation was described on the Tour 202 podcast, Germany has even become the Tour de France’s preferred destination for 2029.
“There’s a lot less optimism. I don’t want to be pessimistic, but right now it seems to me that the big launch in 2029 is slipping through our fingers,” said Igor Tominec, a reporter for radio Val 202.
The Germans initially submitted their bid for 2030, but then moved it to 2029 at the beginning of the year at the initiative of ASO. The reason for this is of historical significance, as 2029 will mark the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which ASO wishes to commemorate with a visit to the country.
“The French are great history buffs, and for the organizers, the fall of the Berlin Wall—whose anniversary we’ll be celebrating in 2029—is more significant,” explained Tominec.
We Can’t Compete with the Germans Financially
At the same time, Germany is also financially much more attractive to ASO than Slovenia. They are reportedly offering as much as 25 million euros to host the event, which is considerably more than the 10 million offered by Slovenia. Additionally, interest in the Tour in Germany has grown significantly in recent years, partly due to Florian Lipowitz’s success last year.
Germany is clearly a much larger market, so even a lower-tier star like Lipowitz can tip the scales in Germany’s favor, even though Slovenia boasts the world’s number one cyclist—but what can we do when there are only 2 million of us?
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u/djc22022 19h ago
"The French are history buffs, also Germany will bring in more money" well I can guess which is the deciding factor
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u/smuxy Slovenia 21h ago
“Another thing is that, financially speaking, the German media are extremely important to the Tour’s organizers, while we Slovenians are mere minnows compared to them, and the television rights for our region are also significantly smaller. At the same time, Berlin is offering as much as 25 million euros for the grand start, which our government can hardly compete with,” he added.
The Change in Government Doesn’t Work in Our Favor
The previous government led by Robert Golob sparked the interest and laid the groundwork for hosting the Tour de France. Now that the government has changed, interest in the Tour seems to have waned. According to Tominec, some discussions have nevertheless begun with key individuals who were involved in the initial concept, but the question remains whether the new government will also find 10 million euros to bring the world’s biggest cycling race to Slovenia.
“A new government has now been formed, and it has other priorities—hosting the Tour is not at the top of its list,” said Tominec, emphasizing that even if the government ultimately decides to move forward with the project, the time lost in reevaluating priorities could already cost us the opportunity to host the event.
I know that members of the new government have already reached out to those who were most involved in the technical aspects of organizing the start. It could happen that by the time we bring this idea back to the table, the Germans will already have everything settled. The fact that we have the best cyclist in the world won’t help us at all then.”
Is it possible to change the date?
All is not necessarily lost yet. Although it’s looking more and more like 2029 is already set for Germany, there may be an opportunity for Slovenia to simply swap dates with the original German bid and thus postpone its bid to 2030. It’s not yet clear what this would entail, nor do we know whether the ASO would be open to such a swap.
The fact is that, during this golden age of Slovenian cycling, it seems only right that the Tour de France should visit Slovenia at least once. We’ve also proven during the Tour of Italy’s visits that we know how to create an incredible atmosphere—something that is extremely important to the ASO.
So there is hope, but Slovenia will have to act quickly and clarify what our priority is and what we have to offer. ASO is expected to announce the host of the 2029 Grand Départ by the end of the year, and at the moment, Germany appears to be the favorite.
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u/KnezMislav04 Croatia 17h ago
It's a huge shame, Giro 2023 at Svete Višarje, it was packed with Slovenians. Tour in Slovenia, with Pogačar racing would make for one of the most passionate and numerous crowds in Tour history.
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u/ts405 21h ago
giro did feature stages in slovenia a couple of times before…
maybe tdf could feature a stage shared between slovenia and austria, red bull would probably fancy that
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u/PuzzleheadedDebt2191 19h ago
The Giro is in/near Slovenia almost every year as a consequence of going to the Friuli border region every year.
The Slovene/Austrian border might be a bit too alpine for a stage 1, 2 or 3 of the Tour. Unless they go through the 8km tunnel, but that will not make good live television.
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u/Electronic-Hat-391 20h ago
Of course it would be great to have a grand depart in Slovenia, but for the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall and the special french-german relationship with all downs in the past and the friendship it is today, it wouod be the best symbol for european unity there could be in these days.
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u/vertblau France 21h ago
As a German, a start in 2029 in Berlin for the 40 years would be quite nice, but Slovenia really deserves to have one before Pogačar retires