'We said I shouldn't start a Grand Tour': Omrzel explains remarkable Vuelta debut and Worlds withdrawal

Jakob Omrzel was not supposed to be at the Vuelta a España. Bahrain-Victorious had agreed at the start of the season that their neo-pro would not ride a Grand Tour in his first year, and he only ended up in Monaco because nothing else on the calendar fit.

"After the Nationals, this idea of the Vuelta started to kick in, that I don't have any other race that I would compete in and that would really suit me," Omrzel told Domestique. "First I was a bit sceptical, because three weeks, and at the start of the season we said that in the first year I shouldn't start a Grand Tour. But day after day I was just realising that the Vuelta is for sure the best option, and with no pressure I go there. I was not meant to be a leader, just go day by day and try to get the experience in."

He left Granada seventh overall, having claimed a stage win at Calar Alto and spent a fortnight in contention for the young rider classification.

The turning point came five days before the win. Omrzel was in the breakaway on stage 7 to Aramón Valdelinares, on a day Andreas Leknessund took the stage, and finished well enough to change his own estimate of himself.

"There I found out, okay, maybe I have the legs to really compete in another breakaway," he said. "If the climb is a bit longer and steeper, for sure I am able to get there."

Calar Alto followed. Omrzel made the move with teammates Pello Bilbao and Santiago Buitrago, went clear on the final climb and rode alone to the finish.

"The whole day when I got to the break I was just feeling really good, and there was not a single moment that I would struggle," he said. "There was this ambition to get the stage, and I was there with my two teammates, with Pello and Santi. The legs were just spinning."

The attack itself came from reading the race rather than from a plan

"You need to feel the race, and when I felt that the pace is a bit too easy, I was just trying to anticipate a bit, to get the pace up and get guys going again and open the race. Then I was waiting for the right moment where, okay, now we can go full gas."

Having Bilbao and Buitrago with him mattered beyond the tactics.

"Santi was incredible in this race, he was just riding so good. And then on the other side you have Pello with his experience, and he showed he's really strong," Omrzel said. "You are safe, you know that you have two guys who know how to read the race. This was also the reason why I was so confident pushing, why I was not scared to push on these pedals and go."

What followed the win was a set of comparisons he could do without. Omrzel is Slovenian, 20, and won a Grand Tour stage in his first attempt, which is a short route to being measured against Tadej Pogačar.

"I've got this question already a million times," he said jokingly. "Pogi [Pogacar] is one of a kind, and to compare me with Pogi is a bit of nonsense. You can just ride on your own and you can be yourself. To be like Pogi, this is something out of this world, and chapeau to him. I will try to do my best, but to compare me with him makes no sense."

The result moved him to sixth overall and into contention for the white jersey, a fight he says he deliberately did not get drawn into.

"I was never hoping for white. It's nice to be there and maybe to fight for it, but I was not getting disturbed by it," he said. "Towards the end it was getting harder and more stressful, but I was already satisfied with where I was. Now when I finish on seventh place, I'm happy for it."

He was pencilled in for the World Championships in Montréal and withdrew through fatigue, a decision he says he is comfortable with.

"To go to the Vuelta was a lot for me, and then to go two weeks after the finish to already go at the Worlds for such a long race, it was kind of impossible for me at the moment," he said. "We started to think, okay, maybe now it's a bit too much, try to rest a bit and then focus mainly on the Europeans. I think this is the better decision, and now I feel okay."

The European Championships in Ljubljana run from 2 to 7 October on roads Omrzel grew up racing, with the elite men's road race finishing in Šenčur on 4 October.

"Slovenia is small, so everything is close, and I know these roads very well. We were racing there also as a junior," he said. "I've already been on this climb and it's nice, I like it."

He does not expect a repeat of the explosive finale that decided last year's edition.

"I think it's not going to be so explosive, because you have a shorter kick but then the lap is not so short. A lot of scenarios can happen. I think it's going to be quite steady, but also a bit with some kicks."

With Pogačar out for the season, the home crowd will be watching a different set of Slovenians, though Omrzel expects the numbers anyway.

"They're predicting there's going to be quite a lot of people. Pogi is not going to race, but still they're predicting a lot of crowds beside the parcours. The atmosphere is going to be great, and even for us as riders it's going to be the cherry on top."