Only after Tour de France will BORA consider taking Primoz Roglic to Vuelta a Espana - "There is still a lot of sadness and emotion still floating around"

Primoz Roglic signed with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe with the big goal of trying to win the Tour de France and it seemed like, until stage 12, everything was going as well as possible. However on that day he crashed hard and ultimately abandoned the race. The team will consider taking him to the Vuelta a España where he has won multiple times in the past, but this will only be discussed after the Tour de France ends.

"We have a couple of decisions to make. It's not only Primoz, it's also [Aleksandr] Vlasov. But we always get medical updates, we'll see how they are and we'll probably have a rough idea by the beginning of next week, at least of what we think we can do," Rolf Aldag told Cyclingnews. "By saying that, we might also have to realise that - No, it's not possible. So let's see. There's also the mental aspect, for both of them, you know, you go to the Tour with big ambitions and go home with nothing". 

The mental aspect really is the main point now, both for Roglic and Vlasov who prepared throughout the spring and summer to reach the Tour at their best level. "So there is also the question of saying what are the right goals now - what are we really aiming for, what is going to motivate them…how do they cope with it all." And of course, their willingness to fully focus again no a Grand Tour preparation this year: "There's also their private lives, another three weeks at altitude, four weeks away in the Grand Tour missing the family. There are a lot of aspects to be considered."

Roglic had won the Dauphiné and looked to be on rising form at the Tour, having ridden strongly to Le Lioran on stage 11. "He was going in the right direction although if you see what Jonas and Tadej are doing here, that's absolutely outstanding. But in the area of Remco, maybe doing a bit better than him on the climbs. So we were there, we were in the mix - but to be honest, nobody cares and nobody will give us big credit if we analyse the Tour afterwards".

The team is readjusting itself and they are fiving Roglic some time to assess himself, physically and mentally, before the important month of August. "There is still a lot of sadness and emotion still floating around, once we sort that out, we'll make some rational decisions as to what is possible. Also, the times when he did turn things around, his coach was involved and he has to be involved now to give us his assessment."

As for the German team left at the Tour, it now seeks stage wins through breakaways in the few mountain stages remaining: "We have to try to get out there… if we leave it to Tadej versus Jonas versus Jai [Hindley], it'll be a difficult one. So early moves, early breaks…there are still a couple of stages where something will happen, it's not all going to be control and GC stages and then we have to be there".