At the Slovenian national championship, he crossed the finish line in second place, behind Damen Novak and in front of a certain Matej Mohoric. We are talking about Gal Glivar, a young athlete from the UAE Emirates Gen Z, the devotion of Pogacar’s UAE Emirates and, in this case, of his “older teammate” Novak. The twenty-two-year-old from Novo Mesto has thus entered the ranks of the greats. He took about twenty seconds from Novak, but he gave two to a champion like Mohoric.
Talking to us about him is Giacomo Notari, coach of the UAE Emirates Gen Z teamwho follows him every day step by step.
So, Giacomo, who is this guy, this Glivar who does that number in the Slovenian championship?
He’s a boy in his last year of the under 23 category, so he’s not super young. But I think that in the era of these baby phenomena we get a bit carried away and I don’t know if it’s always a good thing that they emerge so early. Everyone has their own maturation times and Gal is getting there now.
Clear…
First of all let me say that aside from the athlete, he is a very good guy: humble, polite. Even from a personality point of view he is somehow a leader, he is also a guide for the others on the team and it is not only because of his experience. It is really a question of charisma. In a group he is smart. He knows how to move well, he sees the race. He is in the right place at the right time. He also clearly has a good engine.
So, what are its technical characteristics?
He is a good explosive rouleur I would say. In fact he did well at the Slovenian championship also because the route was suitable for him. It works very well on 5′-7′ climbs, as it is quite light. So he can attack, or he can arrive alone. For example, at the Giro Next Gen in the second stage he beat Teutenberg in the sprint, who is practically a sprinter, but certainly not for long climbs.
In Slovenia, Roglic is a classic example, not all the guys get to cycling that counts through the classic road, but there are those who did other sports, does this also apply to Gal Glivar?
No, no… lui grew up on bread and cycling. His father Srecko was a rider and also a sports director of Adria Mobil (a historic Slovenian team, ed.) and maybe that’s why he’s so shrewd in the race. Maybe he’s more or less directly absorbed his father’s directives.
Second in the national championship: did you expect him to go so fast?
Partly yes. Let me explain: Gal came out well from the Giro Next Gen. He was the beacon of a team in which he helped Torres, among other things the previous discussion comes back. One of his qualities is knowing how to help others, finding the right words.. I was talking about the Giro Next, he did well, he ran in support and came out of it with good legs. Furthermore, the course was suitable for his characteristics also because in Slovenia, since there are not many, they group the elite with the under 23s, even for this reason the distance was not impossible, just over 150 kilometers.
But they award two jerseys, right?
Yes, one per category.
UAE Emirates and UAE Gen Z, did they ultimately run as one team?
More or less yes. And in fact Glivar worked a lot for Novak. Also because at a certain point he was practically sure of having won the under title. But from here to beating people like Mohoric… it wasn’t so obvious! By the way, he and Novak are also training partners, They live close by. And it was a getaway between friends.
Now what will be this boy’s plans?
He runs tonight at the Città di Brescia, then he will do the Medio Brenta and then the Valle d’Aosta which is a bit hard for him… but it will still be important.
