"I still feel twenty years old" - Primoz Roglic still fresh and motivated to pursue Tour de France win

In the new colours of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe; Primoz Roglic rolled up the team presentation yesterday with a smile on his face, good form and a lot of motivation to win the Tour de France. He admits that he's got rivals who are currently superior, but he has focused on preparing as best as possible for the upcoming edition of the Grand Boucle where he looks to avenge the bad luck of recent years.

"...I’m enjoying it. But I also have to say that we are definitely not among the favorites with the team. We are competing against great champions. But my teammates have shown in the last races that they are strong," Roglic said in an interview with Wielerflits. The Slovenian did not race it last year; abandoned in 2021 and 2022 due to crashes and in the last time he completed it, he finished second to Tadej Pogacar in 2020 after losing the yellow jersey in the final time-trial.

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Ever since, he has won the Vuelta a España on a few occasions and finally the Giro d'Italia last year too. Now he has made the change and was since his transfer fully focused on the Tour de France solely. He will face Pogacar again and a very strong UAE Team Emirates, but also his former squad Team Visma | Lease a Bike who are here backing up Jonas Vingegaard.

“He has won the last two editions. For me it would be cool to add the Tour to my list of achievements, because it is still missing. But I have to say that I don’t think much about my competitors," Roglic answers when asked about Vingegaard. "With a new team and new teammates, we have enough work to do ourselves. We have to fine-tune ourselves, to put each guy in the right place to do the right job. That is what I am mainly concerned with, so that we can perform better together.”

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Roglic had a strong season last year but in order to win the Tour he looked for sole leadership. In BORA he found this, but also a team strong enough that he can dream of Tour victory. “What you say is true. I still feel twenty years old, haha. I am just happy. Every chance you get in your life," he continues. "First of all, to be here, to be at the start on Saturday, is something. I am not really worried about these kinds of questions. But it is true that I even changed teams, to really get the chance to go for the Tour victory."

"But still: at the end of the day, when I look at myself and whether I win the Tour or not, next year there will be a new edition. And the year after that too. But it remains day and night. My family and I will not change because of it. The facts are on the table. I am just happy. I just don't want to be able to blame myself for anything. If you put everything into it and I do my best, I can live with that. Whether it is the last Tour I do, or maybe I do ten more! As long as I enjoy it, I will continue to do it," he assures.

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PREVIEW | Tour de France 2024 stage 1 - Will Tadej Pogacar test Jonas Vingegaard? Will Remco Evenepoel go crazy in Italian hills? Or can Wout van Aert take first yellow jersey?

PREVIEW | Tour de France 2024 - GC fight with Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel, Tom Pidcock and more!

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