Aljaž Urbanc

I came to cycling late, after a career in professional basketball, and what kept me was never the numbers. It was the person you end up next to on a climb, the coffee stop that turns into an hour, and the fact that a long ride is the easiest excuse in the world to spend a day with people worth knowing.

I live where three mountain ranges meet — the Julian Alps, the Karavanke and the Kamnik–Savinja Alps are all visible from my front door. I hold a UIAA mountain bike guiding licence, and every route I sell is a route I've ridden myself, in every season, for the last ten years.

Away from the bike I run our family's organic food shop, Dobra misel, which we've been running since 2004. That's why I care where dinner comes from.

I've been lucky enough to ride some of Europe's iconic cycling roads — from the French Alps to the Dolomites, and Girona. They're incredible places to ride, and I understand why cyclists travel there year after year.

But I also know the roads at home.

And there's something I want to prove: Slovenia belongs in that same conversation. The climbs, the scenery, the quiet roads, the food, the coffee, the people — it's all here. Now more cyclists just need to experience it.

What I care about most is the personal experience — being on the road with my guests, not just arranging the road for them. That's why I still guide every group myself.

See the trips →