"He cracked a little bit, but it's not the end of the world" - Primoz Roglic's Dauphine drama will stand him in good stead for Tour de France says Cyrille Guimard

Primoz Roglic has been no stranger to dramatic finales of races over his career in the professional peloton, having both lost the Tour de France and won the Giro d'Italia in enthralling final time-trial in the past. In typical Roglic fashion, his 2024 Criterium du Dauphine victory went right to the wire.

Having started the final stage with a lead of over a minute in the general classification, Roglic cracked on the final climb, seeing his main rival, Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Matteo Jorgenson fire off up the road. In the end, the BORA - hansgrohe leader's experience proved key as he managed to limit the losses and save his Maillot Jaune by just 8 seconds in a thrilling finale.

Although for some, this final stage worry cast doubt Roglic's ability to compete with compatriot Tadej Pogacar at the upcoming Tour de France, for the experienced French cycling expert Cyrille Guimard, Roglic's fighting spirit and the fact he has been tested will actually stand the Slovenian in good stead for the upcoming Grand Tour.

"Roglic's failure on the last day is completely logical and normal. When there are three days of high mountains, you are never well all three days. He cracked a little bit, but it's not the end of the world," Guimard says in his column for Cyclism'Actu. "I found Roglic rather reassuring on this Dauphiné. I was one of the people who didn't really believe in the fact that he was an important opponent of Pogacar on the Tour, but he scored points in my eyes on this Critérium du Dauphiné."

"Victory is still possible for Roglic (at the Tour de France ed.), but it would require fairly exceptional or even dramatic racing circumstances," Guimard concludes however, joining the general consensus that Pogacar is the pre-Tour de France favourite. "Today, no one can say that Pogacar will or can be beaten in the next Tour de France, it would seem pretentious to me to say that. I don't see who can beat him on the pedals."