Philippa York on Primoz Roglic: "No longer will we say he’s the guy that folds under pressure"

Primoz Roglic has had plenty wins over the past few years, but simultaneously plenty heartbreaks. The past three Tours de France saw him lose yellow on the final competitive day, and then crash out twice - as was the case too at the Vuelta a Espana. This Giro d'Italia win was redemption for the Jumbo-Visma rider, Philippa York argues.

"...Indeed, both of them have amassed misfortunes aplenty. The mere mention of their names conjures up images of crashes and upsets, any race, any time," York wrote in a column for Cyclingnews regarding Thomas and Roglic. The duo both suffered heavily across their careers with crashes, but both faced the chance of a return to ultimate success at Monte Lussari. There, despite a mistimed mechanical and a lot of drama, great legs on the day and a home crowd led Roglic into his first non-Vuelta Grand Tour victory. An explosive finale for an otherwise conservative and underwhelming race.

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"...This is classic stuff, and RCS have planned it all perfectly. Even though it would have been nice to have had a few more sunny days and spectacular vistas, the third week has built from rain-soaked to this crescendo of excitement: Thomas, Roglič, redemption," she adds. As Jumbo-Visma moved on from his sole leadership and into having a bigger lineup to support Jonas Vingegaard, Roglic proved he's still at the very top, so far winning all three stage-races he's taken part in. 

Most importantly this victory breaks the stream of bad luck or rough situations he had been in. This time around the Slovenian was the rider to benefit from a dramatic turn of events, with a huge amount of weight lifted off his shoulders. "No longer will we say he’s the guy that folds under pressure, no more character assassinations, and doubts that he can still be trusted with the responsibility...."

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