It has always been said that the Vuelta a España was a great preparation for the
World Championships. However that is not always the case, specially for the GC riders. The Slovenian finished exhausted after an effort where he didn't show his best level and was not able to finish in the Top10.
"It was a very hard race," Roglic told Cyclingpro.net. "The length, the handling of the different parts of the race, everything was difficult for me. I felt like I still had the efforts of the Vuelta in my legs and it was hard to be able to push to the maximum." In the final time-trial of the Vuelta, a flat day, he was second only behind Stefan Küng but he was not able to push the same speeds now in Switzerland. In the climbs, where he could make the difference, this was also not going to be the case then.
Tadej Pogacar's compatriot, the only Slovenian representative in the time trial, acknowledged that he was aware of the difficulty of the race, but he believes that it will be good for him to be able to perform in his last objectives of a year that, of course, he already considers more than positive whatever happens between now and the end:
"I knew it was going to be a difficult race for me, but on the other hand it helps me to stay focused going into the end of the season. It's already been a good season for me and it's hard to keep the pace in other races. So it's better to try to do it together with the best in the group. I hope it will help me.
We'll see what happens in Sunday's road race. Primoz was asked if he was going to help Pogacar and he said he didn't know. Many interpreted that he wasn't going to want to and that he was going to act on his own but next Sunday's race is set to be quite chaotic and tactical and there is always a chance to bounce back for the
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider.
