"It's hard to compare eras but he is one of the best riders" - Cyrille Guimard evaluates Primoz Roglic's standing among cycling hierarchy

Claiming the first Giro d'Italia title of his career last week, Primoz Roglic took his Grand Tour tally up to four. Evaluating his standing amongst the greats of the modern era, Cyrille Guimard believes he could be one of the very best.

"It's hard to compare eras but he is one of the best riders," the Cyclism'Actu analyst says in his post-Giro d'Italia column. "He doesn't have the Tour de France, but he has a Giro and three Tour of Spain, great Classics... For now, you have Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic, and also Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel."

Referencing the Giro d'Italia win though, Guimard doesn't believe the standard of the victory is quite at the same level as his three Vuelta a Espana victories. "If you look closely, none of Roglic, Thomas or Almeida was able to make a real difference. We can also wonder what was the real level of this Giro?" Guimard questions. "It's an average vintage at best, but that's it."

"When you look at the gaps between the top three overall, two stages would have been enough to decide between them. When there were so many difficulties before, three riders coming so close to the last time trial, and what a time trial... we could expect anything," he continues. "It was not Geraint Thomas who suffered a failure, but simply Roglic who was a step above."