Jan Tratnik Explained

Jan Tratnik
Fullname:Jan Tratnik
Nickname:Syuk[1]
Birth Place:Ljubljana, Slovenia
Height:1.73 m
Weight:67 kg
Discipline:Road
Role:Rider
Ridertype:Rouleur
Proyears1:2009–2010
Proyears2:2011
Proyears3:2012
Proyears4:2013
Proyears5:2014–2016
Proyears6:2017–2018
Proteam6:[2]
Proyears7:2019–2022
Proteam7:[3] [4] [5]
Proyears8:2023–
Majorwins:Grand Tours

Giro d'Italia

1 individual stage (2020)One-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships (2016)

National Time Trial Championships
(2015, 2018, 2021, 2022)

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (2024)

Jan Tratnik (born 23 February 1990 in Ljubljana) is a Slovenian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam .[6] Professional since 2009, he has won the 2024 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and a stage of the 2020 Giro d'Italia.[7] Tratnik is also a four time Slovenian national time trial champion and a one-time national road race champion.

Career

Junior years (2007–2008)

Tratnik started cycling at the age of 17 on the advice of Borut Božič who noticed him during a mountain bike competition organized by his school. He found success in races during his second season as a junior in 2008, winning the national junior time trial championship and the Coppa Linari.[8]

Under-23 years (2009–2012)

Moving up to the under-23 category, he was recruited by UCI Continental team, which he rode the 2009 and 2010 seasons for. With the team, he had his first victory at the under-23 level, winning the 2010 Gran Premio della Liberazione. He also finished second overall in the Giro delle Regioni, an event on the UCI Under 23 Nations' Cup calendar, and competed at the under-23 world championships both years. At the world championships, Tratnik placed 60th in the road race and 52nd in the time trial in 2009, and did not finish the road race in 2010.[9]

The following season, Tratnik made the step up to the UCI World Tour with . However, he was let go at the end of the season after a lack of results, largely due to an eating disorder causing him to lose an unhealthy amount of weight, forcing him to rejoin in 2012.[10] That season, he won the European under-23 road race championships in his final year as an under-23 rider.[11]

Continental teams (2013–2016)

For the 2013 season, Tratnik again moved teams, this time to Austrian Continental squad . He once again struggled to find form and was involved in several crashes throughout the year.[12]

In 2014, he transferred again, to another Austrian Continental team,, on a three-year contract. Here he found success at a number of Continental Tour level events. In 2015, he won the Grand Prix Südkärnten, the second stage and the general classification of the East Bohemia Tour as well as the fifth stage and the points classification of the Tour de Hongrie. He also finished third in the fourth stage of the Tour of Austria and won the points classification. That same year, he won the elite national time trial championships and placed fourth in the road race. In 2016, his success continued, winning the elite national road race championship and the overall classification of the East Bohemia Tour.

CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice (2017–2018)

Tratnik's results for caught the attention of Polish UCI Professional Continental team, who signed him on a two-year contract starting in 2017.[2] With the team, Tranik found his best form yet in his career. In 2017, he won the Okolo Slovenska and competed in his first Grand Tour: the Giro d'Italia.[13] [14] He also proved himself to be a strong time trialist, finishing 10th in the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships.[15]

In his second season with the team, Tratnik maintined this form, winning the final stage of the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali in Late, a time trial, followed by Volta Limburg Classic a week later.[16] He also won his second national time trial championship and finished second overall in the Tour de Luxembourg among other results.

Bahrain–Merida: Return to the World Tour (2019–2022)

In 2019 Tratnik returned to the UCI World Tour after a seven year absence with his signing to . In his first season with the team, Tratnik took his first ever World Tour victory, the prologue of the Tour de Romandie, and competed in his first Tour de France. The following March, Tratnik nearly won a stage of Paris–Nice but was caught with 200 meters remaining.[17] However, in October, he took his biggest win in his career yet, winning stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia, six seconds ahead of Ben O'Connor.[18]

In 2021, he won the national time trial championships a third time and defended his title again the following year.[19] In 2022, he also placed ninth in the Dwars door Vlaanderen and Milan–San Remo. He also entered the Giro d'Italia, but suffered from a fracture to his right scaphoid during stage 1, forcing him to drop out two days later.[20]

Team Jumbo–Visma (2023–Present)

In 2023, Tratnik moved to . He was slated to ride the 2023 Giro d'Italia in support of Primož Roglič. However, the day before the race, he was hit by a car while doing recon for the time trial, breaking his kneecap in the process. He was able to return to training four weeks later, and competed in the Vuelta a España.[10]

Tratnik started the 2024 season strong, taking his biggest one-day race victory yet: the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in a two-man sprint against Nils Politt.[7]

Major results

2008
  • National Junior Championships
  • 1st Time trial
  • 3rd Road race
  • 1st Coppa Linari
  • 2nd Overall Po Stajerski
    2009
  • 3rd Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
  • 5th Poreč Trophy
  • 10th Overall Grand Prix du Portugal
    2010
  • 1st Gran Premio della Liberazione
  • 2nd Overall Giro delle Regioni
  • 3rd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships
  • 4th Overall Istrian Spring Trophy
    2012
  • 1st Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
  • 2nd Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
  • 4th Ronde van Vlaanderen Beloften
  • 7th Trofeo Banca Popolare di Vicenza
  • 9th Central European Tour Budapest GP
    2014
  • 1st GP Kranj
  • 3rd Central European Tour Budapest GP
  • 4th Overall Oberösterreich Rundfahrt
  • 4th Central European Tour Košice–Miskolc
  • 5th Banja Luka–Belgrade II
  • 5th Raiffeisen Grand Prix
  • 6th Poreč Trophy
  • 7th Grand Prix Südkärnten
  • 8th Visegrad 4 Bicycle Race – GP Slovakia
  • 9th GP Izola
    2015 (1 pro win)
  • National Road Championships
  • 1st Time trial
  • 4th Road race
  • 1st Overall East Bohemia Tour
  • 1st Stage 2
  • Tour de Hongrie
  • 1st Points classification
  • 1st Stage 5
  • 1st Points classification, Tour of Austria
  • 4th GP Adria Mobil
  • 6th Visegrad 4 Bicycle Race – GP Slovakia
  • 10th Belgrade Banjaluka I
    2016 (1)
  • 1st Road race, National Road Championships
  • 1st Overall East Bohemia Tour
  • 1st Points classification
  • 1st Stage 2
  • 1st Points classification, Istrian Spring Trophy
  • 1st Mountains classification, Tour of Slovenia
  • 2nd Poreč Trophy
  • 3rd Rudi Altig Race
  • 7th Overall Okolo Slovenska
  • 1st Stage 5
  • 9th GP Izola
    2017 (2)
  • 1st Overall Okolo Slovenska
  • 1st Points classification
  • 1st Prologue
  • 1st Stage 1b (TTT) Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
  • 3rd Overall Czech Cycling Tour
  • 4th Road race, National Road Championships
  • 8th Overall Volta ao Alentejo
  • 10th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    2018 (3)
  • National Road Championships
  • 1st Time trial
  • 4th Road race
  • 1st Volta Limburg Classic
  • 1st Stage 4 (ITT) Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
  • 2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
  • 2nd Overall Okolo Slovenska
  • 3rd Overall CCC Tour - Grody Piastowskie
  • 1st Stage 1 (ITT)
  • 5th Brabantse Pijl
  • 9th Eschborn–Frankfurt
    2019 (1)
  • 1st Prologue Tour de Romandie
  • 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships
  • 8th Chrono des Nations
    2020 (1)
  • 1st Stage 16 Giro d'Italia
  • 6th Time trial, UEC European Road Championships
    2021 (1)
  • National Road Championships
  • 1st Time trial
  • 4th Road race
    2022 (1)
  • 1st Time trial, National Road Championships
  • 9th Milan–San Remo
  • 9th Dwars door Vlaanderen
    2023
  • 1st Stage 3 (TTT) Paris–Nice
  • 1st Stage 2 (TTT) Vuelta a Burgos
  • 9th Coppa Bernocchi
    2024 (1)
  • 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
  • 2nd Vuelta a Murcia
  • 3rd Overall Volta ao Algarve
  • 3rd Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior
  • 8th Road race, Olympic Games
  • Combativity award Stage 10 Giro d'Italia

    Grand Tour general classification results timeline

    Grand Tour2017201820192020202120222023
    Giro d'Italia1066270DNF
    Tour de France9372
    Vuelta a España9438
    Legend
    Did not compete
    DNFDid not finish
    IPIn progress

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Syuk - Jan Tranik . Syuk is Jan’s nickname which he got after his older brother, who was a basketball player..
    2. News: CCC Sprandi Polkowice signs Szymon Sajnok. Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 12 November 2017. 7 January 2018. Paweł. Gadzała. With two newly-signed rouleurs – Paweł Bernas (Domin Sport) and Kamil Gradek (ONE Pro Cycling) – the team is expected to focus more on flatter stages and one-day races and play cards of Jan Tratnik, Jonas Koch, Frantisek Sisr or Alan Banaszek..
    3. Web site: Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team. Merida Bikes. Merida Industry Co., Ltd.. 1 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190101111509/https://www.merida-bikes.com/en/p/team/bahrain-merida-pro-cycling-team-119.html. 1 January 2019.
    4. News: 2020 Team Preview: Bahrain McLaren. Daniel. Ostanek. Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 26 December 2019. 1 January 2020.
    5. Web site: Bahrain Victorious. UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. 1 January 2021. https://archive.today/20210101044146/https://www.uci.org/road/teams/TeamDetail/15229/1002125/279. 1 January 2021.
    6. Web site: Team Jumbo–Visma. UCI. 6 January 2023.
    7. Web site: 'It was just instinct' - Jan Tratnik strikes out for glory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad . . 24 February 2024 . 24 February 2024 . Ostanek, Daniel.
    8. Web site: en. Coppa Linari, Vince lo Sloveno Tratnik Jan (Hit Gorica). 18 August 2008. 20 February 2016.
    9. Web site: Sicard wins world Under 23 road title. Cycling News. 26 September 2009.
    10. Web site: Jan Tratnik overcame his darkest days to take his 'most beautiful' win at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad . . 25 February 2024 . 4 April 2024 . Bensom, Daniel.
    11. Web site: Sloveen Tratnik grijpt in Goes Europese titel. omroepzeeland.nllang=nl.
    12. Web site: 2012-2013: Dark Years . jan-tratnik.com . 4 April 2024.
    13. Web site: Classement général 4 - General classification 4. Okolo Slovenska. Slovak Cycling Federation. 11 June 2017. 9 July 2017.
    14. Web site: 2017 Giro d'Italia Startlist . ProCyclingStats . 4 April 2024.
    15. News: Dumoulin wins time trial world championship in Bergen. Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 20 September 2017. 23 September 2017.
    16. https://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur-route/Actualites/Le-slovene-jan-tratnik-remporte-la-volta-limburg-classic/888684 Le Slovène Jan Tratnik remporte la Volta Limburg Classic
    17. https://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur-route/Actualites/Paris-nice-niccolo-bonifazio-remporte-la-5e-etape/1119086 Paris-Nice : Niccolo Bonifazio remporte la 5e étape
    18. News: Giro d'Italia: Tratnik wins stage 16. Kirsten. Frattini. CyclingNews. 20 October 2020. 20 October 2020.
    19. Web site: Jan Tratnik Wins Slovenian ITT National Championships . . bahraincyclingteam.com . 23 June 2022 . 4 April 2024.
    20. Web site: Route - Tombé sur le Giro, Jan Tratnik souffre d'une fracture du poignet. cyclismactu.net. 9 May 2022. Clément Labat-Gest. .