"I was fighting a bit with myself" - Primoz Roglic narrowly evades major losses after his struggle on Galibier
CyclingWednesday, 03 July 2024 at 10:59
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.
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- Yates-Ayuso cage match? Could be interesting.mobk05-05-2025
- I don't know, maybe it's true when Blythe says "When Jonas is in top form, Tadej has never beaten him", but I think he should watch his mouth a bit.Ride197405-05-2025
- From what I've been seeing and reading Jonas is on great form. I expect a great Tour again this year. These guys are made to race against each other.awp05-05-2025
- Vingo is not injured, it is just not had a good preparation going for the Tour. Same as well Pogi in 2023.
James2631805-05-2025 - Just can’t slow down that girl ;-)Mistermaumau05-05-2025
- "become one of the peloton's top sprinters"? -- he's anything but a sprinter, and the admins would obviously know this. So much on this site feels increasingly like it's been written by AI (and then barely reviewed by a human afterwards).boodyb05-05-2025
- Ayuso couldn't work well with. Period, ahahaha. All depends on TT stages. If Ayuso take a lot of advantage over Adam, then he will be the leader, no problems inside the team BUT if Ayuso/Yates are tied... a lot of problems can emerge in the group.
maria2024202405-05-2025 - Pogacar in La VUelta? IMHO, no. Tadej is so in love with his Rainbow t-shirt. Most likely, after the Tour, he will rest and prepare very well the World Championship Race, as he does every year, then Almeida will have his opportunity in La Vuelta.maria2024202405-05-2025
- The main UAE goal is the 4th Tour de France, then Almeida have to work with Pogacar preparing the Tour. In addition, UAE has to make concessions to Ayuso. The young man is very talented and ... impatient: he wants big opportunities NOW or maybe he could leave UAE.maria2024202405-05-2025
- Tadej wasn’t in top form either in 2023mij05-05-2025
Primoz is still pretty good but he's a bit too old to be contesting stages at the Tour. I figure he's looking at a top 10 GC position by the end.
It's more that he's simply not able to contend without a superteam and never could. Nothing wrong with that. Pogi and Jonas could fight to win with average teams but with superteams, they're untouchable. With superteams, Primoz can compete for the podium but he doesn't have one.
He hasn't shown the top form he had back in 2023 so far this year, no matter what team he has.
I don't think he came here for a top 10. For a 1st week he's looking acceptable despite losing time. Remember the tour hasn't been won by a matter of seconds at end of stage 21 but MINUTES. Let's see if he can bounce back after the ITT and gain time im the final week.
We'll see how it goes, it's is early.
Just because you're paid more money and are the sole GC man doesn't put you in first place. Primoz has got his work cut out, as do other teams, or UAE could have more than one man on the podium this year.