Freshly enlisted in the ranks of Bahrain Victorious, it is in the shoes of a new professional runner that the native of Ljubljana has agreed to give himself up to us . He looks back on these first strokes while not lacking in ambition because he has many qualities to be the next Slovenian to burst the screen. .
Cycling Times : Hello Matevz, can you introduce yourself for our readers ?
Matevz Govekar : I am a road cyclist 22 years. In June I changed teams, moving to the World Tour level. Before becoming a cyclist I was an alpine skier. For a few years I was skiing and mountain biking. At the age of 16 years, I decided to continue only mountain biking. Up to category U23, my main discipline was mountain biking. Nevertheless I tried on the road in the first two years of the U23 category. Ensuite, with the Tirol KTM team I focused exclusively on road cycling.
CT : As mentioned before becoming a cyclist, you practiced winter sports from a very young age. Do you find similarities with cycling ?
MV : Yes, In effect. I think that as a child, it didn't really matter. I alternated a lot between winter and summer sports and I did quite well.. I can say that alpine skiing is not an endurance sport, so in this perspective it didn't help me much but I'm not afraid of speed on the bike since it's an important thing in alpine skiing. But overall, winter sports gave me a very good base for any sport I was going to choose for later.
CT : How do you analyze your start to the season before signing with Bahrain Victorious ?
MV : I've made progress from last year on a lot of fronts and it's also yielded results.. So I'm happy with the way things went. I certainly have room for improvement and this signing with Bahrain Victorious gives me confidence to continue working and trying to do my best in every race.
CT : To return to your transfer, did you expect to turn professional during the season?? Was it planned ?
MV : Non, at the beginning of the year I had no offer in sight, so signing during the season really came out of nowhere. After the first races in Croatia some teams were interested in 2023, but then Bahrain Victorious offered me the place directly for this year. I was really happy and immediately decided to take a step forward.
CT : How was the transition to the professional world made? ? What are the fundamental changes compared to the continental level ?
MV : I had a really perfect transition starting with the Tour of Slovenia. I knew the Slovenian cyclists in the team but I'm also looking forward to meeting all the guys. Indeed these are my first in the structure, so some things are still very new to me. But all the organization and support is just on another level. Everything is dedicated so that the cyclist is at his best level.
CT : You were very prominent on the national championships (4and against the clock, 2e to road racing and therefore champion of the under 23 years) but also on the road race of the European U23 Championship in Portugal where you finished 5 The Tour of the Pays de Vaud. Isn't this a perfect World Tour start ?
MV : I am happy to be able to show some of my qualities already in a new team, so yeah it’s kind of a promising start.
CT : Do you already know your program for the end of the season ? You think of doing the Tour de l’Avenir one last time ?
MV : Probably not, I am scheduled for some races that are around this date. I did not check so much in advance for the program. As I write these answers, I'm going to Livignio for a mid-season camp with part of the team.
CT : Do you have a mentor in the team ? How do the other Slovenians on the team inspire you?, especially since you have already raced with them in the Tour of Slovenia ?
MV : I trained a lot with Jan Tratnik before signing with TBV, because we live close to each other. So indeed, he helped me a lot to know how the team works. I also knew Matej [Mohoric] a Domain [Novak]. They all made my transition to the top level easier.
CT : What category of runners do you think you belong to? ? Where would you like to improve more in the future ?
MV : I have a good burst of speed and I showed qualities on the short bumps, so i could be a classic racer. But I come from mountain biking so I lack a bit of experience in massive sprints. However, I am confident for the acquisition of new skills very soon..
CT : What race do you dream of winning ?
MV : It would be great to win Paris – Roubaix one day.
Many thanks to Govekar who devoted his time to us . We wish him a good end of the season .
