That's too bad

Slovakian masseur (!) has to compete at the World Championships

Masseur Vladimír Kováčik must compete for Slovakia at the World Championships...(Bild: Krone-Collage/Kerschbaummayr Werner, x.com/cyclingpronet (Screenshot))

Some things are just too crazy to be true: Injury problems and a lack of clearance mean that Slovakia won’t be sending a “real” cycling star to today’s road race at the World Cycling Championships in Canada, but “just” a massage therapist…

What? How? Where? Why? It’s actually quite simple, though very bitter from the perspective of our eastern neighbors: Matthias Schwarzbacher, Martin Svrček, and Lukáš Kubiš were originally slated to start in the race in Montréal, but the first two are injured and the latter didn’t receive clearance from his team, Unibet.

Simply writing off the circumstances as “bad luck” was not an option for the Slovak Cycling Federation, as national coach Jakub Vanco explained to “Sportnet.” That’s because without a rider in the race, Slovakia would have been “penalized” by the international cycling federation, the UCI, with a downgrade of its national championship status.

“Our participation will be purely formal!”
“The national champion’s points would be cut in half, and the runner-up’s would drop by nearly two-thirds,” said Vanco. The consequences would be a drop in the world rankings and reduced chances of qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The solution to this dilemma came in the form of a “late nomination” from within the team’s own ranks: masseur Vladimír Kováčik, who had competed in races himself between 2014 and 2017. “Our participation will be purely formal. We will be represented by someone who is here, who formally meets the requirements, and who holds a license,” said national coach Vanco.