Past negotiations made BORA - hansgrohe obvious destination for Primoz Roglic: "The good memories of when we met years ago made the talks easy"

The deal is made and it is explosive. Primoz Roglic is officially joining BORA - hansgrohe on a two-year deal with a €5.5 million salary. The 33-year old had a very tough winter but a brilliant 2023 season, and he changes outfits with goals of sole leadership and Tour de France success.

"I am looking forward to this step, even though a team change is kind of like new territory for me. The good memories of when we met years ago made the talks easy," Roglic said in a press release. "But the decisive factor was that the team is really motivated to work with me, and that we hold the same ideas."

The transfer was already clear and known by this morning. Roglic (and Wout van Aert)'s coach Marc Lambert was said to be leaving Jumbo-Visma and head towards the German team, which van Aert had already talked about. That was enough reason to be certain that this morning's press conference announced by team manager Ralph Denk would be regarding the much-awaited transfer. Over past days BORA - hansgrohe emerged as the leading team in the fight for the Giro d'Italia winner, and they have won it.

On the table is a millionaire contract and a €3 million transfer clause which was also payed. Roglic has won Tirreno-Adriatico, the Volta a Catalunya, the Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Burgos and Giro dell'Emilia this year, whilst also finishing on the podium of the Vuelta a Espana. This weekend he has the chance to further expand on his successful year at Il Lombardia.

At the Vuelta a Espana the team were happy to see Sepp Kuss take the overall win after many years of supporting both his leaders do the same. Whilst Jonas Vingegaard was happy to see his teammate take the spotlight, Primoz Roglic had prepared specifically for the Vuelta and had hoped to be the one on the top step. With the Dutch team in complete dominance, that became obvious when the trio were isolated at the Alto de l'Angliru and Roglic then dropped the race leader.

Eventually there was an agreement but that race not only showed that Jonas Vingegaard is likely a small step above Roglic when it comes to racing Grand Tours, but also that Jumbo-Visma will not have Roglic be a sole leader at any Grand Tour where Jonas Vingegaard is present. With the Tour de France in mind - the only Grand Tour in the way of an historic treble - Roglic decided to move on to a team that can more willingly support his ambitions.