“Maybe I could have won the Tour, but perhaps I wouldn’t have then won all that I did" - Primoz Roglic reflects on dramatic day the Maillot Jaune slipped from his grasp

Primoz Roglic has seen and done almost everything during his illustrious career as a professional bike rider, with one notable exception. the Tour de France. The closest he came was in 2020 where Tadej Pogacar snatched the Maillot Jaune from him in dramatically heartbreaking style.

“I was there to win and finish it off, so it was hard when I lost," the Slovenian reflects three years on from the disappointment in an open and honest conversation with Davide Cassani, Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Nino Morici and Cycling News. "But looking back, I have to be happy about it because afterwards, I won a lot of things."

What could have been a career-defining victory for Roglic, instead turned into a bitter example of what could have been. “Maybe I could have won the Tour, but perhaps I wouldn’t have then won all that I did, so the 2020 Tour actually gave me a lot. It always depends on how you look at things in life. You can be disappointed, but always take some positives from it and look to the future. We can always create our own future.”

Despite the way he has bounced back in the three years since, taking multiple Grand Tour victories, the Tour de France has remained illusive. So much so that Roglic has now departed Jumbo-Visma for BORA - hansgrohe and what he believes is a better shot at Tour de France glory.

“I know what is missing from my palmares,” Roglic previously stated after winning the Giro d'Italia earlier this year. “I don’t want to say the Tour is an obsession. I’ve won a lot, and so even if I stop immediately, I’m super proud of what I’ve won and what has happened. But it’s my responsibility to go for it, to try to do everything to win, to have no regrets and be proud of what happens.”