Philippa York on Primoz Roglic: "He may not be as spectacular as Evenepoel, but then again, outside of Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel, who is?"

With the Giro d'Italia beginning in less than 24 hours, all riders have done everything they could to prepare for it. Philippa York is another analyst who believes the fight will be between Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, and provides her insight into the expected battle.

"Evenepoel is certainly the standard for the incoming generation, and there’s no arguing that the world champion entirely merits the accolades he has earned," York said in a column for Cyclingnews. "They’ve given him slightly better odds than his Slovenian rival, even though Roglič has won the Vuelta three times and would have pushed Evenepoel to the limit last year if he hadn’t crashed at the beginning of the final week."

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The two were almost equally matched at the Vuelta a Espana last year, however the Slovenian was forced to abandon within the final week. They matched at the Volta a Catalunya and, both being at the same point in the preparation, showed an incredibly tight battle with none being above the other by any significant margin. They were above the rest of the field, but bonifications almost solely decided the race as the two could respond to each other on almost every stage.

"His form isn't exactly shabby, as two wins from two stage races this year clearly demonstrates," York says of Roglic. "He may not be as spectacular as Evenepoel, but then again, outside of Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel, who is?" She also added that "there are question marks over Roglič's resilience when the third week of the Grand Tours features the hardest stages, but he surely has the experience and understanding to have that angle covered by now."

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The battle will begin this Saturday already in Ortona with almost 20 kilometers of individual time-trial. This will mostly be flat but include a hilltop finish, which will with no doubt see both of them among the favourites to take the pink jersey.

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