"He literally couldn't walk down the stairs, but he was ready to race" - Former teammate reveals inside story of Primoz Roglic's dramatic 2023 Giro d'Italia victory

It seems to be a running theme of Primoz Roglic's Grand Tours, that it always seems to be dramatic, for good or bad. At the 2023 Giro d'Italia, the Slovenian (then of Jumbo-Visma ed.), triumphed in the extremely dramatic fashion, securing the Maglia Rosa by just 14 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas.

On the podcast How To Become A Pro, one of Roglic's teammates from the 2023 Giro d'Italia, Thomas Gloag, recalled the inside story of his team leader's dramatic victory. "Primoz is an absolute killer on the bike, it's incredible," Gloag says. "He has a focus that you rarely see. After his win in the final stage of the Giro he was sitting there quietly enjoying dinner, but at the same time you could tell he was already thinking about the next race. I just thought: you just won the Giro, man!"

That's not to say the Giro was completely plain sailing for Roglic and his Jumbo-Visma teammates. Chasing the INEOS Grenadiers leader Thomas throughout, Roglic even suffered nasty crash early on in the Grand Tour and although he didn't make much of it in public, Gloag recalls seeing the effects of the crash take hold on the Slovenian in a hotel. "After a long morning, we had to pick up our stuff on the eleventh floor of our hotel. We were in a hurry, because we had a long transfer planned," the Brit remembers. "Primoz was waiting at the lift, and I thought: this is taking way too long. A group of tourists were going in and out, and I told him we would be better off taking the stairs."

That sadly wasn't as easy as it sounded for the Visma leader though. '''Tom, I can't walk down the stairs,'" Gloag recalls Roglic's response. "I was completely surprised. He said it in such a calm way that I didn't even realize how much pain he was in. He didn't complain, he stayed focused. He literally couldn't walk down the stairs, but he was talking like he was ready to race again. It was insane. I thought: this guy is crazy. But it's that confidence and determination that makes him a fantastic leader. He never switches off. He can work focused on his goals 365 days a year. That is incredibly inspiring for a teammate."