"He said he doesn’t care! That’s a slap in the face for your teammates" - Primoz Roglic under fire from Adam Blythe at Tour de France

Whilst Primoz Roglic started his 2025 Tour de France challenge with a bit of a blow on stage 1, losing 39 seconds to Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, it was the Slovenian's pre-stage interview that caused a stir for former British national champion Adam Blythe.

Speaking to ITV Sport ahead of stage 1, the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader was asked about whether this is the year he finally manages to secure the Maillot Jaune. "If I’m honest, I don’t care, you know. Like, I mean, picturing this or that… like I already said, you know, whether I have ten Tours de France or one or none, it’s not going to turn my career around. It’s not going to change it," he summarised. "I’ve won some races. I’m f*cking proud of it. And we’ll just try to enjoy it here."

According to Blythe however, this carefree attitude from Roglic is 'a slap in the face' to his Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe teammates.

"It was one heck of a statement. He was asked in an interview if he thought he could get on the top step of the podium and he said he doesn’t care," an astonished Blythe reflected on TNT Sports ahead of stage 2. "And for me that’s a slap in the face for your teammates. If he wasn’t there yesterday because of a lack of position or whatever it was, and he’s saying, ‘I don’t care’ and then not trying almost."

"It’s an awful thing to say. It disrespects your whole team, the staff around you," continued Blythe. "This sounds really awful. I’m not trying to be awful to Primoz, but that was flat out the wrong thing to say. You’re in a bike race to win. I’m not trying to say that he doesn’t care either. That was just flat out the wrong thing to say."

Countering Blythe's criticism however, four-time Tour de France stage winner Michael Matthews stuck up for Roglic. "I think it’s a way of taking pressure off of himself - saying he doesn’t care," explained the Australian. "Maybe, in his world, saying ‘I don’t care’ to the media is a way of saying, ‘Go and interview someone else and just leave me alone. I’ll keep doing my thing’."

"He’s so calculated. He knows what he needs to do, but he hasn’t finished the Tour de France since 2020 so that will be playing on his mind for sure, when continuously being asked these questions. His Tour de France hasn't really gone so well in recent years. It is going to be on his mind. That’s what he’s going to be thinking about this whole time," Matthews adds. "Then, getting caught out with the split again - that’s another setback in his Tour de France. It can also be taken out of context too. We only saw what we saw. Maybe the interview was longer."