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"For Primoz, there was no point in just finishing the Tour" - Ralph Denk on difficult talk with Slovenian to decide end of Tour de France
CyclingSaturday, 13 July 2024 at 13:30
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe started the Tour de France with the goal of racing to the best possible result with Primoz Roglic. Ideally, the victory, even though that would always be a difficult mission. However after a roller-coaster 11 days, on stage 12 the Slovenian crashed hard and continuing the Tour did not make sense. Team CEO Ralph Denk shares the talk he had with Roglic that led to the decision.
"We had a conversation with Primoz, Rolf Aldag (team DS, ed.) and our doctor before the start =of stage 13, ed.). We discussed various things in that conversation. Of course, Primoz's health was discussed. He had no fractures, but he was still badly hit all over his body. He didn't feel well, that was clear and very visible". Having crashed twice in 24 hours, Roglic was simply battered and although he hadn't sustained fractures, these incidents combined with the additional 2:27 minutes he had lost meant winning the Tour de France - or even finishing on the podium - had become a distant dream.
A Top5 would likely be the best possible realistic outcome, but most likely fighting for a stage win or a Top10 would be the result of continuing the race, whilst he had also lost his right-hand man Aleksandr Vlasov. "He had also fallen the day before, so that meant that the total package meant that he could no longer start. We really made that decision together and we have to accept that. If you're crashing on the asphalt at such a high speed, you simply can't keep up at this level. So it's the right decision not to continue the Tour".
It was an unfortunate decision and the German team has virtually lost the chances it had to having a great Tour de France. But there was little sense in keeping Roglic in the race at that point, and they decided not to start stage 13. "Ultimately, we weighed everything up and also decided with an eye to the future that it's better this way. For Primoz, there was no point in just finishing the Tour or maybe, just maybe, going for a stage. That's how you quickly come to the decision that it's better to focus on the next goals".
Still, Denk looks towards the rest of the season with a lot of optimism. Roglic won the Criterium du Dauphiné, and the team still believe that he can bring in important victories in the remaining three months of the season. "There's still a full cycling calendar, with the Vuelta [a España], Tour de Pologne, Clasica San Sebastian, the World Championships in Zurich and the Tour of Lombardy. So there are still many highlights, but at the moment it's much too early to make those choices. You shouldn't want that at all at this moment, Primoz is still in shock in a certain way after his withdrawal in this Tour".
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