Janez Brajkovič

Janez "Jani" Brajkovič (born 18 December 1983) is a racing cyclist from Metlika, Slovenia, who most recently rode for UCI Continental team. He was the world under-23 Time Trial champion in 2004.

In 2018, while riding for the team, Brajkovič was suspended after a positive anti-doping test. He was banned for just over a year, and once his suspension was complete, he rejoined the team.

Career
Before he turned professional, Brajkovič won the under-23 world time trial title in 2004 by beating pre-race favourite Thomas Dekker (formerly of ) by 18 seconds, with a time of 46:56.39 – an average speed of 46.975 km/h.

Discovery Channel (2005–2007)
Brajkovič joined Discovery Channel midway through the 2005 season. Brajkovič was signed up as a first year professional but missed the first half of the season due to contractual obligations; he was still contracted with. In July he turned professional and made his début at the Eneco Tour and had a brilliant début start. He finished 7th in the time trial, helped sprinter Max van Heeswijk win two stages, and finished in the top 20 overall in a race won by Bobby Julich of. But to prove it was no fluke he finished 14th in the time trial in the Deutschland Tour, and eleventh in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships.

Brajkovič started 2006 impressively as well, finishing 4th in the final time trial of Tour de Suisse to take 5th overall in the general classification. Before that, in the Volta a Catalunya, he took 3rd in the stage 1 time trial, and finished 5th overall just 48 seconds down on race winner David Cañada. He did not get to ride the Tour de France, but raced the Vuelta a España where he finished second on the first mountain stage, after getting beaten by Danilo Di Luca in the sprint at the summit. After finishing fourth in the second mountain stage to the Puerto de El Morredero, he took the lead in the general classification, giving him the leader's jersey in a major tour for the first time.

On 22 April 2007 Brajkovič won the Tour de Georgia for his first win as a professional. He then endured a dry spell where he further acclimatised to regular top level competition before finishing second to Damiano Cunego at the Giro di Lombardia end of season classic.

Astana (2008–2009)
In 2008 Brajkovič raced in the Tour of California, the Vuelta a Murcia, Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, the Volta a Catalunya, the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, the Slovenian National Road Race Championships, the Tour of Austria, the Deutschland Tour, the UCI Road World Championships, the Military World Championship, the Coppa Sabatini, the Giro dell'Emilia, the Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli and the Giro di Lombardia.

In 2009, Brajkovič took the leader's jersey in Stage 2 of the Giro del Trentino and held it until Ivan Basso took it on the final climb in Stage 4. Showing strong form, he rode in support of Levi Leipheimer in the Giro d'Italia.

Team RadioShack (2010–2011)
Following the 2009 season, Brajkovič left for, joining many of his former  teammates and manager Johan Bruyneel. During the 2010 season, he won the Critérium du Dauphiné after being able to follow Tour de France champion Alberto Contador in the mountains and besting him in the longer time trial of the race. Following this victory, he was selected by the team to ride in his first Tour de France, mainly to support Lance Armstrong.

His 2011 Tour de France with ended early on stage 5 after a crash prevented him from finishing.

Astana (2012–2014)
On 30 September 2011, it was announced that Brajkovič would be returning to for the 2012 season. He won the Tour of Slovenia in 2012. Brajkovic later rode the Tour de France where he ended up finishing 9th overall.

After having a relatively quiet 2013 season, Brajkovič wore the red leader's jersey after his team won the stage 1 team time trial in the Vuelta a España. He wore it for one day and then lost it to teammate Vincenzo Nibali.

The 2014 season was statistically the worst year of Brajkovič's career. He failed to record a stage win for the first time, which was attributed to many injuries and illnesses.

UnitedHealthcare (2015–2016)
On 29 October 2014, it was announced that Brajkovič would be joining professional continental team after 3 seasons at. Brajkovič expressed an interest in wanting to return and ride in the United States for his third different American team.

Bahrain–Merida (2017)
Brajkovič joined newly formed team for the 2017 season.

Adria Mobil (2018–2020)
After an unsuccessful 2017 season, Brajkovič rejoined his first professional team. In July 2018 the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) informed the team about a positive anti-doping test for methylhexanamine recorded by Brajkovič. Brajkovič could have received a ban of up to two years, but this was reduced to ten months by the UCI. He initially did not extend his contract beyond the end of 2018.

After his suspension ended in September 2019, he re-signed with. His first race was the 2.1-classified CRO Race.

Personal life
After his doping sentence, Brajkovič took to his personal website on 8 August 2019 to discuss his suffering with an eating disorder. He alleged that his positive test was the result of methylhexanamine contained in a food supplement he took while not being able to eat properly. He stated that he knew numerous fellow professional cyclists who suffered from the condition as well and that too little was done to prevent it.

Major results

 * 2003
 * 7th Overall Giro delle Regioni


 * 2004
 * 1st Jersey rainbow chrono.svg Time trial, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships
 * National Under-23 Road Championships
 * 1st MaillotEslovenia.PNG Road race
 * 1st MaillotEslovenia.PNG Time trial
 * 1st Trofeo Banca Popolare di Vicenza
 * 2nd Silver medal europe.svg Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
 * 2nd Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
 * 1st Stage 4a (ITT)
 * 2nd Gran Premio Palio del Recioto
 * 3rd Giro del Belvedere
 * 4th Overall Tour de Berlin
 * 5th Overall Tour of Slovenia


 * 2005
 * 1st Stage 3 Jadranska Magistrala
 * 3rd Bronze medal europe.svg Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
 * 5th Overall Tour of Slovenia
 * 1st Young rider classification
 * 5th Gran Premio Palio del Recioto
 * 8th Trofeo Zsšdi
 * 9th Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 9th Giro d'Oro


 * 2006
 * 5th Overall Tour de Georgia
 * 1st Young rider classification
 * 5th Overall Volta a Catalunya
 * 5th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 9th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
 * Vuelta a España
 * Held Jersey gold.svg after Stages 7–8


 * 2007 (1 pro win)
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Tour de Georgia
 * 1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification
 * 4th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
 * 5th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 10th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 10th Overall Volta a Catalunya


 * 2008
 * 2nd Giro di Lombardia
 * 3rd Overall Deutschland Tour
 * 7th Overall Volta a Catalunya
 * 7th Overall Tour of Austria
 * 8th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
 * 8th Overall Tour de l'Ain


 * 2009 (1)
 * National Road Championships
 * 1st MaillotEslovenia.PNG Time trial
 * 3rd Road race
 * 2nd Overall Giro del Trentino
 * 6th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships


 * 2010 (2)
 * 1st Jersey yellow-bluebar.svg Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
 * 1st Stage 3 (ITT)
 * 4th Overall Giro di Sardegna
 * 4th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
 * 5th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 8th Classica Sarda
 * 9th Overall Volta a Catalunya
 * 9th Overall Tour of California


 * 2011 (1)
 * 1st MaillotEslovenia.PNG Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 3rd Overall Tour of Utah
 * 7th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 7th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 9th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné


 * 2012 (2)
 * 1st Jersey blue.svg Overall Tour of Slovenia
 * 1st Stage 3 Volta a Catalunya
 * 5th Overall USA Pro Cycling Challenge
 * 7th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
 * 9th Overall Tour de France
 * 9th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 10th Time trial, Olympic Games


 * 2013
 * Vuelta a España
 * 1st Stage 1 (TTT)
 * Jersey red.svg Held after Stage 1


 * 2014
 * 3rd Overall Vuelta a Burgos


 * 2015
 * 4th Overall Abu Dhabi Tour
 * 5th Overall Tour of the Gila


 * 2016
 * 8th Overall Tour of the Gila
 * 9th Overall Tour of Slovenia


 * 2018
 * 8th Overall Tour of Slovenia


 * 2020
 * 6th Overall Tour de Hongrie
 * 8th Overall Giro della Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia