Primoz Roglic will have his first big test as the race heads to Spain, and it will be a crucial set of stages for the Slovenian as he looks to take a fourth title at the
Vuelta a Espana.
“It’s good to start like this. It doesn’t look really hilly here on paper but there’s a lot of things on the road," Roglic said after completing stage three. "There’s some wind. You need to keep the focus, also with all the people on the road and go through without any unnecessary problems." Although there was tension, the riders made it through the opening two flat stages relatively safely, and
Jumbo-Visma have seen three of their riders take on the red jersey at the end of three different days.
“But we will see in the next week already, when we start with the hard stages later on," Roglic pointed out however. "[stage 6] We will finish it with two hard climbs, we will know more about the real contenders. And especially the days after the time trial".
Team DS Grischa Niermann said at the end of the day that the ambitions are real for the Slovenian: “Primož is not at 100 percent, he didn’t have the optimal preparation for this race, that’s no secret. But he’s here and he didn’t come here to finish last, so we’re here to fight for the victory.” In the meantime he remains ahead of all other GC contenders, into the fourth stage up to Laguardia.