"My first salary was 300 euros" - Primoz Roglic remembers his first years as a pro cyclist

Primoz Roglic is now an established pro rider and one of the best in his generation. A Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España winner, Olympic Champion and much more, the Slovenian recalls his first years as a pro after coming from ski jumping and how in 2016 there was a big change in his mindset.

As is very commonly known, the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider used to be a professional ski jumper and in recovery from an injury he discovered his talent in cycling. He turned professional in 2013 with the Slovenian continental Adria Mobil team but actually, only in 2016 did he move to the World Tour with the now called Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

"I didn't want to get paid there. I didn't even dream of racing then and I didn't know anyone in cycling. I only watched races on TV and I saw how professional cycling was. It was something crazy, but I thought it was something I could do," Roglic said in conversation with Kristjan Vreček, an ex-pro. 

"My first salary was 300 euros. That was the beginning. I didn't hesitate to sign there because I didn't really know anything. If you don't know what to expect and you don't care, you just do it. Then you overcome the challenges that come your way," Roglic added. In his first season in the World Tour, he had a breakthrough at the Giro d'Italia.

"I came second in the prologue in Apeldoorn, just behind Tom Dumoulin. At that moment I realized that I could also ride a time trial and I felt that I could perhaps do much more". The Slovenian considered his victory in the 2016 Giro time-trial, a few days later, as a turning point in his career. In that day, although he benefited from the weather, he won ahead of a few specialists in the discipline. As the years moved by he then evolved as a climber and eventually became a premium stage-racer.

It was an unusual career and a rider who is peaking at a latter age, the opposite of the current trend that sees youngsters take most victories in the biggest races in the calendar. "I didn't even think about changing anything, because I don't have any bad feelings about it either. It was the best I could get and that's okay".