Janez "Jani" Brajkovič is a racing cyclist from Metlika, Slovenia, who currently rides 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 by 18 seconds, with a time of 46:56.39 – an average speed of.
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, 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.
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–present)
After an unsuccessful 2017 season, Brajkovič rejoined his first professional team. In July 2018 the Union Cycliste Internationale 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.
