Primoz Roglic: "I'm looking forward to a first duel with Remco"

Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel headline this year's Volta a Catalunya. Having succeeded in winning Tirreno-Adriatico and the UAE Tour respectively, the duo will face at the Giro d'Italia this spring and have their first and only pre-Giro battle here in Spain.

"I'm looking forward to a first duel with Remco," Roglic told reporters this morning at the start of the seven-day stage-race. "It is easier to recuperate than to build up. I enjoyed my win and the intermediate period for this race. I am very relaxed here, enjoying the good weather, ready to give my best.”

Roglic was planned to start his season only here, but an anticipation in his schedule saw him race Tirreno-Adriatico, where he won three stages and the overall classification. With no races on the calendar in April, this will be his final event before the Giro, where he will face Remco Evenepoel as his biggest rival.

The duo this week find three summit finishes and an explosive hilly day in Barcelona to wrap off the Catalan race, and will have a very important test - with no time-trialing, where both succeed frequently, to build differences. They face a plethora of other quality climbers including the likes of João Almeida and Adam Yates for UAE Team Emirates, Mikel Landa and Jai Hindley.