Luka Mezgec will hang up his bike at the end of 2026. The 37-year-old rider has identified the European Championships in Slovenia as his final race, where he hopes to end his career on a high note as European champion alongside Tadej Pogacar.
Mezgec has planned his farewell completely, he says in an interview with Siol. "I hope and believe that my career will end with a top performance from Pogi. For me, it would be fantastic to be there in Slovenia and see Pogi win my last race."
"I am incredibly grateful to have raced during the same era as Pogi and to have witnessed one of the greatest riders in history with my own eyes. Besides that, I’m thankful that I could help him twice to become world champion. Well, that’s something very few people can say or have experienced."
So far in his career, Mezgec has achieved nineteen professional victories, eight of which were at WorldTour level. Most of those wins came with Giant-Alpecin, where he rode the first three years of his career. At Jayco AlUla, the Slovenian has mainly served as a domestique in recent years and has been the lead-out man for various sprinters.
photo: Cor Vos © 2015
Moving on as a team director
After his career, the Slovenian intends to use that experience, he says in the interview. "I want to become a team director after my career. Precisely because I’ve been involved in this sport for so many years and know every detail of the race. I know where the race splits up, where you need to be in the sprint, how the wind is blowing, what’s happening in the peloton, and so on."
"If you’ve never experienced that yourself, you’ll never truly understand what’s going on, and you won’t be able to advise your riders properly. It would be a shame to let that knowledge go to waste," he concludes.
Luka Mezgec| Year | Team |
|---|---|
| 2026 | |
| 2025 | |
| 2024 | |
| 2023 | |
| 2022 |
