"I was fighting a bit with myself" - Primoz Roglic narrowly evades major losses after his struggle on Galibier

Primoz Roglic did not have an easy time in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. The Slovenian had to let the other favourites go in the final kilometre of Col du Galibier, but eventually finished fourth in Valloire. The leader of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe had to recognize the result was maximum possible on Tuesday.

The Slovenian was able to consolidate the situation in the final descent, losing major amount of time only to winner, his compatriot Tadej Pogacar. "I was fighting a bit with myself," Roglic told RTV Slovenija on the final kilometres of the Col du Galibier. "In the end it was enough. I’m happy with today."

Roglic dropped from the group just before the top of the Galibier. Luckily, he was able to rejoin Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel in the final kilometers. Carlos Rodríguez and Juan Ayuso were also still in a group that finished just over half a minute behind winner Pogacar. "It went very fast uphill. The pace was Tadej's, that was clearly the best for him. Hats off. I'm also slowly getting a little better myself. I'm still here."

After four days of racing, Roglic sits fifth in the general classification. He is one minute and 14 seconds behind the yellow jersey Pogacar, but only four seconds short of his closest target, the fourth Juan Ayuso.