Bizarre: Slovakia is missing all its star riders at the World Championship and is forced to start a massage therapist

Cycling culture in Slovakia is certainly still alive and well. The big star is, of course, Lukas Kubis, who has won the last three national titles and, riding for Unibet Rose Rockets, can at times keep up with the very best riders in the world. Young riders like Martin Svrcek (Soudal Quick-Step) and Mattias Schwarzbacher (EF Education-EasyPost) are also knocking loudly on the door.

But those three won’t be competing at the World Cycling Championships this time around. They didn’t really stand a chance of winning a medal anyway, although Svrcek does already have two medals from the U23 category under his belt. But Kubis is needed by his team this fall, so he’ll be staying away from Canada. Svrcek missed his home race, the Tour of Slovakia, due to an injury and will therefore not be competing either. On top of that, he recently became a father. And Schwarzbacher is also out of the running due to an injury.

Slovakia had been allocated four starting spots for the World Championships, but by the September 11 deadline—when the roster was due to be finalized—the federation realized it had run out of options. And so, the only option seemed to be to skip the World Championships entirely. But that would have drastic consequences. National team coach Jakub Vanco explained the situation to Sportnet.

Failing to show up in Canada would mean the country would be reclassified to Category B. And that would mean fewer UCI points. “For the national champion, the loss of points is half; for the runner-up, nearly two-thirds. We’d be looking at a loss in the hundreds. These points are equivalent to winning a stage race in the World Tour, which is out of our reach.”

With 2027 being a crucial year—as it’s a qualifying year for countries heading into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games—losing points would be absolutely devastating. “So we have to fulfill our obligation to the UCI to send someone to the elite races.” But how do you do that if you can’t send any riders at all?

A solution has been found—and it’s a drastic one. Twenty-eight-year-old Vladimir Kovacik will compete in the road race. In 2016, he rode for a continental team for one more year, but since then he has been the national team’s masseur. That’s right: Slovakia is letting the masseur compete. “Our participation will be purely formal. We will be represented by a person who is present here and formally meets the requirements and holds the necessary permits,” Vanco makes clear.

In Slovakia, the future belongs to the youth. Viktoria Chladonova became the world champion in the U23 category. But without Kovacik’s participation, her Olympic dream would be at risk. “We’re doing this for talented cyclists, whom we need to keep high in the rankings so that people like Schwarzbacher, Kubis, Riska, Novák, Chladonova, Ungerova, and others can make it to the Olympic Games.”

Kubis feels a little guilty about the situation. “I’m very sorry that I can’t start on Sunday. On the other hand, I’m glad the federation has found a solution to secure these important points for us, which could be crucial in the battle for the standings,” says the Slovak star. Chladonova is also happy. “Thanks to their participation, we won’t lose any important points, which will come in handy in the future.”