Merijn Zeeman rules out Primoz Roglic's start at Tour de France 2023: "If he can ride for general classification at the Giro, then it is done for Primoz"

Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and the rest of Jumbo-Visma's expected Tour de France line-up have gathered in Sierra Nevada to begin their preparations for the biggest race of the season.

Along with last year's yellow jersey Vingegaard and green jersey Van Aert, the team have taken former podium finisher Steven Kruijswijk and former Giro podium finisher Wilco Kelderman, along with the core of their Classics team: Christophe Laporte, Tiesj Benoot, Dylan van Baarle, and Nathan van Hooydonck.

Zeeman indicated that there are nine riders currently in the frame for the eight spots on the Tour team. The ninth rider being Sepp Kuss, who was forced to change his plans and replaced injured Wilco Keldermann in Jumbo-Visma's Giro d'Italia roster.

Primoz Roglic is currently leading the team at the Giro d'Italia, and team director Merijn Zeeman appears to have definitively ruled out the possibility of the Slovenian joining the cast in France after his efforts in Italy.  "If he can ride for general classification at the Giro, then it is done for Primoz," Zeeman told Het Nieuwsblad. "Then he will need his rest."