Final Dauphine stage a very bad sign for Primoz Roglic, according to Thijs Zonneveld: "I wouldn’t draw much confidence from this with a view to the Tour de France"
CyclingTuesday, 11 June 2024 at 09:34
Primoz Roglic won the Criterium du Dauphiné yesterday at the Plateau des Glières however the final stage proved to be a big challenge and the Slovenian looked to be on the downfall. It will be a triumph that is celebrated, but not the best of signs towards the Tour de France.
“There were three mountain stages in a row. One with an easy approach. He was very good there. On Saturday he was already a bit less and Jorgenson could really sprint with him. On Sunday, the third uphill finish, he is just not good. Actually quite bad”, Zonneveld said in the Het Wiel podcast. The BORA - hansgrohe riders rode strongly throughout the week and ultimately consistency earned him the win. A strong time-trial followed by the victory in the first mountain stage got him in yellow, and the Slovenian then raced on the defensive.
But perhaps he only managed to take yellow home because of the strong and full support of BORA - hansgrohe (and mainly Aleksandr Vlasov). “This was actually astonishingly mediocre. He didn’t just have to let Jorgenson go. But five riders, and not the very best either," the Dutch analyst argues. "What does that say? He seems to have the same problem as last year in the Giro. When it gets really tough, he also showed weaknesses then.”
In a Tour de France where Roglic has to face the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard (even if not with their perfect preparation), it looks like a difficult task for Roglic to contest for the victory unless his level improves in the next month. That is definitely possible however, taking into consideration that he was injured two months ago at Itzulia Basque Country.
“Maybe it also says that he is not recovering well. His condition did not improve in the Dauphiné. More like the opposite. He won, but I wouldn’t draw much confidence from this with a view to the Tour de France," Zonneveld concluded.
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I think it was a major sign of weakness and strength, if he wasn't having a good day, he did show that he could be smart and hold on. I think he has a chance at the podium, probably top five though. His age is against him and he's facing a tremendous level of class from the young guns.
I do hope he has a great Tour and can finish on a high note.
Roglic will most likely be awesome in the TdF. Unfortunately Tadej is likely to be even more awesome.
Unfortunately only Tadej has been able to follow his 2024 roadmap to TDF. The showdown between the 4 best GC riders has been seriously compromised by Jonas, Remco & Primoz all missing a critical block of TDF preparation. I really hope we have a race but will not be surprised if Tadej repeats his Giro dominance.
I really can't stand all the sycophants in the PDM 2.0 (Visma) orbit.
He is not saying anything others aren't saying though? The fact that Primoz only won the Dauphine with 8 seconds over a TdF domestique doesn't bode well for him.
Roglič gave away to reasons that bothered him. First was the undershirt, that was overheating him on the final climb, he said it was a "wrong decision" and second was the pain in the left shoulder. I guess when we put all those into context, together with the Itzulia crash and recovery process - he might just get well and sharp and arrive on the TDF ready and focused on his lifetime goal achievement.
The recovery appears to be a problem but still it is possible to improve w.r.t TDF considering there are ~3 weeks left