JAKA PRIMOŽIC

Cycling Team Kranj

M eet the Slovenian all-rounder who sharpens his climbing in the eastern Alps.

What has Jaka won?

Well, he’s a first year espoir so his best results come from the juniors. He won the Oberösterreich Juniorenrundfahrt last year (including the final stage) and was third overall at the Course de la Paix. We should also mention that he was fourth at junior Gent-Wevelgem. He came eighth in the Junior Road and TT World Championships in Qatar. He’s versatile, but they often are at this age.

Impressive. So he’s been snapped up by one of the big development teams?

Au contraire. The 18-year-old is staying with his local club, Cycling Team Kranj. “The biggest decision was that I must finish my studies before I can devote myself to cycling,” Primo ic tells us. He has one more year of studies and by the sounds of it he can’t wait for them to be over.

Sounds sensible. A bit like a certain former Procycling diarist, Matej Mohoric?

Precisely. They’re firm friends and both from Kranj, actually. Primo ic aspires to be like the former junior and U23 road world champ who was both bookworm and pro.

Presumably his parents have helped.

For about 10 years his parents put him off cycling on the grounds of cost. However, a few friends were avid racers so five years ago he joined the local club which gave him his first bike. Now his parents are fully behind him. For three years they’ve been financing their son’s international racing career. It’s been quite an investment.

By staying in Slovenia, isn’t he worried about missing the best races?

Not at all. “I’ll be doing the Nations Cup and I can show myself there,” he says. “It’s my first year as an espoir so I don’t know what to expect. I just hope to finish and then after that make some results.”

And what is his speciality?

Climbing, but more generally stage racing as he’s got an improving TT. “Every day I feel myself getting better,” he says.