Lukas Kubis, Matthias Schwarzbacher and Martin Svrcek will not start on Sunday in Montreal. They pulled out at the last minute. The Slovak cycling federation announced it on social media on Friday: a member of staff will race in their place.
That staff member is Vladimir Kovacik. He is 28, works as a soigneur, and has not raced at UCI level since 2017. The federation explains that a minimal Slovak presence in the elite category matters for the rankings and for the allocation of start places at the World Championships, the European Championships and the Olympics. It cites UCI rules and the fact that the race is held in Canada: fielding a member of the delegation was, in its words, “the only solution”.
It adds that such a solution “is not ideal” and that the decision was not taken “lightly”, but that it is necessary to preserve start places for its young riders, among them Viktoria Chladonova, 19, freshly crowned world champion in the under-23 women’s race.
A soigneur is the one who knows the musette before anyone else. He knows what is in it, he knows which bend it gets handed over at, he knows who misses it. On Sunday he will be receiving one instead of handing it out, and that is not something you learn in any school. In my day the soigneur stayed at the feed zone with the bags, and we rode past him without a look, because we were counting the kilometres. He was counting us. At the front, I couldn’t tell you what he’ll do. At the back, I can tell you he’ll have someone handing him a bidon, and that it’ll be the first time he finds out what it’s worth. A bidon has to be earned. His own, he prepared himself.
The men’s elite road race takes place on Sunday in Montreal.
It’s true, we checked: DH Les Sports+.
