LAND OF LEGENDS

How does Slovenia punch so far above its weight in cycling? Chris Marshall-Bell searches for the country's magic recipe

- Chris Marshall-Bell

The great thing about cycling in Slovenia is that in less than one week you see a bit of everything," says my guide Kristijan Koren as we descend the spectacular Vršič Pass and cross the first of many stone bridges over the impossibly emerald blue River Soča. "You start with the high mountains of the Julian Alps, pass Alpine lakes, go up and over rolling green hills, come in and out of forests, pass vineyards, and finish on flat roads by the coast." Little wonder, then, that in his 18 years as a pro, Koren never once lived outside of Slovenia. "I didn't need to," he smiles. "I had everything I could want here."

This tiny country sandwiched between northern, southern, western and eastern Europe, the first to vote for independence from Yugoslavia, in late 1990, has become synonymous with cycling royalty in the past few years, with Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič winning nine of the last 16 Grand Tours between them. The country has one World Tour rider (including male and female riders) for every 290,000 inhabitants - compared to one per 1.3 million people in Britain. That's a very big difference. In my quest to understand how a young nation the same size as Wales has produced so many world-class cyclists, including two phenomenons, I'm traversing the heavily forested mountains of Slovenia in search of answers.

Having already visited the country three times, I know that spectacular landscapes lie in store for me: deep gorges, dramatic mountains, turquoise waters, endless forests, and idyllic villages with their colourful churches and pristine farms. It's a magical place, and it's almost impossible not to be entranced, not to begin to believe in new possibilities. Every time I return to Slovenia, I'm enchanted and enthralled by its bewitching landscape as I try to get a little bit closer to understanding how Pogačar's and Roglič's superhuman powers came to be.

Majestic mountains