"For once, Primoz Roglic had no major crashes or disaster days" - Philippa York calls Red Bull - BORA leader's Vuelta a Espana win 'inevitable'

So often a victim of bad luck or unfortunate circumstances, Primoz Roglic survived three weeks at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana completely incident free. As a result, the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader took home a record-equalling 4th Red Jersey win.

"It wasn't surprising that the Vuelta a Espana ended with Primoz Roglic on the top step of the podium," says former Vuelta a Espana stage winner and two time general classification runner-up at the Spanish Grand Tour, Philippa York in her post-race analysis for Cycling News. "When Ben O’Connor took the race lead on stage six with a winning breakaway attack, only Roglic remained as a serious threat and he began the daily process of wearing the Australian down. Roglic might be criticised for being robotic at times but he has always shown he has the capability to be patient and wait for the right moment to strike. With the last week containing three mountain top finishes and a flat final time trial in Madrid, his GC rivals were always going to have an almost impossible task."

As such, ultimate victory for Roglic at La Vuelta 2024 turned into an inevitable result. "The Vuelta a Espana was always Primoz Roglic's to lose but yet again, he went out and won it on merit," York continues. "At the start of the third week, Roglic failed to take the leader's red jersey on the Lagos de Covadonga summit finish but that wasn’t such a bad thing. O’Connor fought to retain an advantage of just five seconds and in doing so spared Roglic all the podium and other race responsibilities that go with the race lead. That Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz weren’t able to distance the Slovenian was more icing on that day’s cake, making it a pivotal day of the race."

"They were all slowly grinding their way to the podium places but their ambitions ended there. Only Roglic was sure to deliver a time trial performance which could have overhauled the Australian," York adds. "That meant Red Bull became the de facto GC leader team, with Movistar and EF Education assuming the role of aggressors."

"Mas, Carapaz & Co were relying on the Australian's collapse. They had a weak hand in a game of poker and bluff," York analyses critically. "It was as if they had forgotten this was a guy who had been fourth at the Tour and the Giro. The final time trial proved O'Connor's consistency and grit and the Australian beat both of them to secure his second place."

As such, the likes of Mas, Carapaz and the rest can have no complaints about their respective positions in the final GC standings. "The Madrid podium of Roglic, O’Connor and Mas perfectly respected the hierarchy of the race, and it reflected how each of them rode over the three weeks," York concludes. "For once Roglic had no major crashes or disaster days, his average moments were good enough to stay with his rivals and his good days blew them away."