Fresh from winning his third Tour de France title, Tadej Pogačar will not compete in the Paris Olympics. Announcing the decision on 22 July, the Slovenian Olympic Committee cited the rider's fatigue as the reason.

Pogačar was supposed to enter the Olympic road race along with Jan Tratnik, Luka Mezgec and Matej Mohorič. In Tokyo, he won bronze in this event.

The coach of the men's Olympic cycling team, Uroš Murn, said the news came as a surprise to him. "It surprised me and everyone else, but during the final days of the Tour I was in France and I had a hunch that this might happen," he told Sportal.

Murn would not speculate on whether Pogačar's decision might be connected with his fiance, Urška Žigart, not being invited to the Olympic team even though she is the highest ranked Slovenian female cyclist.

"I don't know and I cannot comment on that specifically. But Tadej is definitely tired," he said.

Pogačar's absence means the Slovenian team heads to the Olympics without the two best riders.

Primož Roglič, who won gold in the time trial in Tokyo, is injured after crashing out of the Tour de France midway through the race and is not on coach Murn's final roster.

On Team Slovenia, Pogačar will be replaced by Domen Novak, his teammate in the UAE Team Emirates.