19/10/2023

“I'll keep on racing as long as I have fun" - Primoz Roglic insists he still has many years left at the top

As Primoz Roglic nears his 34th birthday, the Slovenian is still making headlines, competing at the very top level and winning races. With the fire still in his belly, Roglic believes this can continue for many years.

“I started cycling late and so don’t really care about counting the years," says Roglic in conversation with Davide Cassani, Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Nino Morici and Cycling News. "When you have the possibility to achieve the things you dream of, you have to do it as long as you like it."

“I’ll talk straight. In races, I’m there to win" - Primoz Roglic recollects Jumbo-Visma infighting at the Vuelta a Espana

Having added a total of 15 wins to his palmares in 2023, including most notably a fourth career Grand Tour win at the Giro d'Italia, Roglic isn't showing any signs of slowing down. “I'll keep on racing as long as I have fun," he explains. "Now, I enjoy it and have fun being who I am in the world of cycling. When I realise I want to do other things in life, I’ll make space for the young guys who are coming up quickly.”

"In 2017, I won the Volta ao Algarve and then the first WorldTour race. Then, the 2019 Giro d’Italia was the first time I was a team captain and tried to win a Grand Tour," Roglic recalls of the early days at Jumbo-Visma.

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“I didn’t know that I could be such a good time trialist, and I missed out on winning the first stage, and so the Maglia Rosa by a tenth of a second to Tom Dumoulin. But I decided I wanted to win the second time trial even if I’d never actually ridden a time trial over 40km. We decided to go for it, and it was my first Grand Tour stage win.”

In 2024 however, there will be a slight change as he departs Jumbo-Visma after eight seasons for pastures new at BORA - hansgrohe. The question is, can he still take victories now he'll be competing against the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss and Wout van Aert.