Jan Tratnik

Jan Tratnik
	Tratnik in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Jan Tratnik
Nickname	Syuk
Born	23 February 1990 (age 34); Ljubljana, Slovenia
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)
Team information
Current team	Visma–Lease a Bike
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Rouleur
Professional teams
2009–2010	Radenska–KD Financial Point
2011	Quick-Step
2012	Radenska
2013	Tirol Cycling Team
2014–2016	Amplatz–BMC
2017–2018	CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice
2019–2022	Bahrain–Merida
2023–	Team Jumbo–Visma
Major wins
	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)
Medal record
Representing Slovenia
European Road Championships

Jan Tratnik (born 23 February 1990 in Ljubljana) is a Slovenian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike.^[6] Professional since 2009, he has notably 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[edit]

Junior years (2007–2008)[edit]

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)[edit]

Moving up to the under-23 category, he was recruited by UCI Continental team Radenska–KD Financial Point, 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 Quick-Step. 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 Radenska 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)[edit]

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

In 2014, he would transfer yet again, to another Austrian Continental team, Amplatz–BMC 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)[edit]

Tratnik's results for Amplatz–BMC caught the attention of Polish UCI Professional Continental team CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice, 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)[edit]

2019 marked Tratnik's return to the UCI World Tour after a seven year absence with his signing to Bahrain–Merida. In his first season with the team, Tratnik took his for 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)[edit]

In 2023, Tratnik moved to Team Jumbo–Visma. 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. However, he was still able to return to training four weeks later, and competed in the Vuelta a España.^[10]

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