“Maybe I’ve gone a little over the line and overtrained” - Primoz Roglic raises late fitness concern as Slovenia turn to veteran leader for Montreal Worlds
CyclingThursday, 24 September 2026 at 12:30
Primoz Roglic will carry much of Slovenia's hopes into Sunday's World Championship road race in Montreal, but the 36-year-old admits he does not yet know whether his strong Vuelta a Espana has left him in ideal condition or pushed him too far at the end of a demanding Grand Tour block.
Tadej Pogacar's absence following his season-ending Vuelta crash has dramatically changed Slovenia's plans for Montreal. National coach Uros Murn has described Roglic as being in form "like he's not been for a long time", with the five-time Grand Tour winner now assuming a leading role on the 273.7-kilometre course.
"For me, it went exceptionally well," Roglic said of his Vuelta in comments published by RTV Slovenija. "Now we'll see whether I've recovered successfully and enough, or whether I've gone a little over the line and overtrained. Everything will become clear on Sunday."
Roglic finished second overall behind Enric Mas in Spain despite his own preparation being heavily disrupted when he was hit by a car during training in late July. The resulting haematoma left him unable to train normally in the build-up, but he still returned to a Grand Tour podium for the first time since winning his record-equalling fourth Vuelta in 2024.
Roglic finished 2nd overall at La Vuelta 2026
"The legs will show what we can achieve"
Sunday's elite men's road race features 3,803 metres of climbing, including 12 laps of the Mount Royal circuit in the latter part of the course. The repeated Camillien-Houde and Chemin de la Polytechnique ascents provide the main difficulties, with gradients exceeding 11% on the latter.
Roglic has already reconnoitred the circuit after arriving in Canada. "The circuit was tough when we tested it, partly because of the fatigue after the long journey," he said. "I remember three laps, but the last two a little less clearly. It will be interesting."
Slovenia will approach those laps differently without the rider who won the rainbow jersey in both Zurich in 2024 and Kigali last year. Murn has said the nation now sits in the "third or fourth row of favourites", while retiring road captain Luka Mezgec believes a top-eight result would represent success.
"We have good riders who can finish high up," said Mezgec. "The favourites are well known. Considering we don't have Tadej, it would be a success for us if one rider could make the top eight."
Roglic is concentrating on Slovenia's own execution. "We have to focus on ourselves and try to do the best we can as a team," he said. "We have to do the things we agree on, and then the legs will show what we can achieve together and compared with everyone else."
Montreal will be Roglic's eighth appearance in the elite World Championship road race. His best result remains sixth at Imola in 2020, while his return to the event in Kigali last season produced an 11th-place finish.
| Year | Host | Result |
| 2017 | Bergen | 121st |
| 2018 | Innsbruck | 34th |
| 2019 | Yorkshire | DNF |
| 2020 | Imola | 6th |
| 2021 | Flanders | 48th |
| 2024 | Zurich | 64th |
| 2025 | Kigali | 11th |
His World Championship record also includes silver in the individual time trial at Bergen in 2017, four years before his Olympic time trial victory in Tokyo.
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Slovenia prepare for a race of attrition
Roglic will be joined by Jan Tratnik, Matej Mohoric, Luka Mezgec, Matevz Govekar, Gal Glivar and Tilen Finkst in Slovenia's seven-rider lineup. Several of them have reached similar conclusions after inspecting the Montreal circuit. Glivar, who also raced the Vuelta, described it as "very dynamic and difficult", while Govekar highlighted the accumulation of short efforts rather than any single decisive climb.
"The climbs aren't the longest, but they come one after another," said Govekar. "The intervals are very high intensity and there isn't really any time to recover between them. It will be a race of attrition."
That repeated climbing comes after a long opening section before the race reaches Mount Royal, with the championship eventually decided after almost 274 kilometres and close to 3,800 metres of elevation.
For Slovenia, Sunday will be their first World Championship road race since 2023 without Pogacar as defending champion or central favourite. Roglic arrives instead with a Grand Tour podium only weeks behind him, a coach encouraged by the form he showed in Spain, and his own recovery from that effort still to be tested once the racing begins in Montreal.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- It's a horribly composed article. It doesn't mention his name until the third paragraph, and even then it only mentions his last name. I miss the days when we had what was called journalism.
santiagobenites23-09-2026 - My pick for the win is Isaac Del Toro, given how great he looked while winning the race in Montreal a week and a half ago. My sentimental favorite for the win is Wout Van Aert. I know that that's not going to happen, but I'm sure that a lot of cycling fans would be absolutely thrilled if he did.santiagobenites23-09-2026
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