Primoz Roglic was the overwhelming favorite to win the Vuelta a Espana before the start of the race in Barcelona. However, he had to settle for third place behind Jumbo-Visma teammates Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard.
The Slovenian could have made history by equaling Roberto Heras with 4 Vueltas, but at 33 years of age (he will be 34 in October), he had to settle for another podium. Now he will have to decide what he wants to do in the near future and, above all, if he wants to try again to close his career by winning the Tour de France, the only thing he is missing after years in which he has dominated all the races he has competed in, from 1 to 3 weeks.
And he won't be able to do that at Jumbo-Visma. Vingegaard, by his own right, has earned the right to be the undisputed leader of the Dutch squad in the Tour and the plan there is going to be clear. We imagine that Primoz thought he had earned the right to do the same in the Vuelta, but Vingo decided to take part and Jumbo played the three-leader card with Kuss, who ultimately won.
Primoz made it quite clear a few days ago that he did not agree with the team's strategy in recent days to work for his colleague Sepp, which has set off all the alarms and rumors of a possible move to Lidl-Trek or (this one much less credible) to Movistar Team.
The truth is that the ski jumper has 2 years left on his contract with Jumbo and is a very valuable piece for the structure. The only way for him to leave would be to put pressure and we suppose that if he does so he would end up losing money (we can't imagine any team paying more than them at the moment).
So, we do not know if Primoz will continue to condition possible victories to continue in Jumbo next year as has done a Wout van Aert who has been key to the 2 victories of Vingegaard in the Tour but has instead lost chances to win stages and has conditioned his racing style to the Grande Boucle, which has made him less decisive in the classics.
Either that, or he settles for what is there so far, what we have seen this year, or he tries to force his way out to be the undisputed leader in any grand tour he wants to ride. From here we encourage him to force his departure. All the strong guys in the same box is getting boring...
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Juan LarraCycling Journalist
Juan Larra is a writer for Cyclinguptodate and editor-in-chief of Ciclismoaldia, where he has played a central role since its inception. Under his leadership, the website has become a trusted source for professional cycling coverage, offering in-depth analysis, news, and feature stories.
A sports journalist with over 20 years of experience, Juan earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Seville in 2007. He began his career covering a wide range of sports—including football, basketball, Formula 1, MotoGP, tennis, and cycling—for platforms such as the official La Liga app, Vodafone and Movistar websites, NBA Blogdebasket, and Cadena Cope, honing his skills in writing and editorial management.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Juan contributes to Cyclinguptodate and serves as editor-in-chief for the tennis-focused site Tenisaldia. Throughout his career, he has conducted exclusive interviews with cyclists and sports figures, provided detailed analysis of competitions ranging from local Spanish races to major international events, and acted as a special correspondent at prestigious races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España.
Juan’s combination of experience, expertise, and direct access to athletes has established him—and the platforms he leads—as authoritative voices in professional cycling.
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🇸🇮 Roglic en #LaVuelta23 🎙 "Creo que con este equipo que tenemos es posible seguir con mis ambiciones para el futuro. Creo que en ningún sitio estaría mejor que éste. Solo hay que ver qué equipo tan fuerte tenemos" ¿Qué te parece? 🤔
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