Janez Brajkovič

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Janez Brajkovič (born December 18, 1983, Metlika) is a racing cyclist from Slovenia was the world under-23 Time Trial champion in Verona, he rides for Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team on the UCI ProTour.

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 2005 season due to a contractual obligations (he was with KRKA - Adria Mobil). In July he turned professional and his debut race in the ENECO Tour of the Benelux and had a brilliant debut start. He finished 7th in the time trial, helped sprinter Max van Heeswijk two stage wins and finished in the top 20 in the General Classification won by Bobby Julich of Team CSC. But to prove it was no fluke he finished 14th in the time trial in the Tour of Germany, and in the Top 20 in the 2005 UCI World Road Race Championships in Madrid.

Brajkovič has started 2006 impressively as well, finished 4th in the final time trial of Tour of Switzerland 5th overall in the General Classification, and at 22 turned out to be Discovery's strongest rider in the race. Before that, in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (Tour of Catalunya), he took 3rd in the stage 1 TT, 7th in stage 4 2:37 behind stage winner Carlos Castano (Kaiku), and 5th overall just 48 seconds down on over GC winner David Cañada (Saunier Duval-Prodir). 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 Alto 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 in his young career.

Before he turned professional, Brajkovic won the World U-23 TT by beating pre-race favourite Thomas Dekker (now of Rabobank) by 18 seconds, with a time of 46:56:39 with an average speed of 46.975 km/h.

[edit] Results

2006 - Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team

Vuelta a España
- 2nd, Stage 5
- 4th, Stage 7
- Golden jersey (General classification leader) after Stages 7 and 8
- Red jersey (King of the Mountains classification leader) after Stages 7 and 8
- White jersey (Combined classification leader) after Stages 7 and 8
5th, Overall, Tour of Switzerland
5th, Overall, Tour de Georgia
- Best Young Rider classification
5th, Overall, Tour of Catalonia
9th, Overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León