Slovakia runs out of riders and gets its masseur to race at the World Championships

The Montreal World Championship has left one of the most unusual stories of recent years. Slovakia is facing the elite men's event with Vladimir Kovacik as one of the last-minute selections, a former cyclist of 28 years who currently works as a masseur for the national team and had not competed for nine years.

Kovacik traveled to Canada as part of the Slovak staff, but a series of withdrawals has forced him to swap the massage table for the bike so that Slovakia does not go without representation in the race.

Slovakia runs out of cyclists and puts its masseur to race in the Montreal World Championship

Slovakia had four spots for these World Championships, but has arrived on the last day practically without available riders. Matthias Schwarzbacher and Martin Svrcek have withdrawn due to injury, while Lukas Kubis will also be unable to compete due to issues related to his team. In the women's category, Nora Jencusova also did not start. In light of this situation, the Slovak federation found a solution within its own expedition.

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Vladimir Kovacik is 28 years old and currently works as a masseur for the national team, but he still holds a competition license. Moreover, he is not starting completely from scratch: he competed between 2014 and 2017 before stepping away from racing. According to reports from Montreal, he had not participated in an elite event for nine years.

His presence at the start allows Slovakia to maintain representation in the category and avoid the sanction that a complete absence could have on its ranking and future international participations, especially at a time when the path to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games is beginning to gain importance.

The situation has turned Kovacik into one of the unexpected protagonists of the lead-up. Before taking the start, he acknowledged to Eurosport the extraordinary nature of the moment: "It's every cyclist's dream, madness".

Clearly, his sporting objective is far from that of the big favorites. For Kovacik, being on the starting line of a World Championship already meant returning in the most unexpected way possible to a competition he had left behind nearly a decade ago.

National hero

Vladimir Kovacik, masseur of the Slovak team, representing his country in #Montréal2026 due to withdrawals.

Having not competed since 2017, he prevents his country from dropping in the UCI ranking. #LaCasadelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/JW3Zjr09vK

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) September 27, 2026

The image is even more striking when looking back at Slovakia's recent past. Between 2015 and 2017, Peter Sagan won three consecutive World Championships and turned the small Central European country into one of the great references of international cycling.

Nine years after that third consecutive rainbow jersey, Slovakia arrives at the elite men's race of the Montreal World Championship without any of the initially planned riders and with a member of its staff dressed for competition. Vladimir Kovacik traveled to the World Championship to work as a masseur and will end up competing on the bike.