Primoz Roglic set to return to racing alongside Mathieu van der Poel this weekend

Primoz Roglic will return to racing at the post-Tour criterium in Etten-Leur, Netherlands, where he’ll line up alongside home favourite Mathieu van der Poel. The Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe rider ended last month’s Tour de France in 8th place overall, his first finish in Paris since 2020, when he came agonisingly close to victory and placed second.

The 35-year-old’s build-up to this year’s Tour was far from ideal, with a string of crashes at the Giro d’Italia forcing him out and costing him valuable training time while recovering on antibiotics. Despite that setback, Roglic came alive in the third week, launching himself into breakaways and proving he still has the spark to animate a race. This is the first time Roglic will be in front of the cameras since Remco Evenepoel was announced as his new teammate for 2026, so perhaps he will be able to make a comment on the blockbuster transfer.

Etten-Leur’s organisers have assembled a strong field, with Oscar Onley, Thymen Arensman, and Tim Wellens joining Roglic and van der Poel on the men’s start list. The women’s event is equally star-studded, featuring Tour de France Femmes winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Lorena Wiebes, Lotte Kopecky, Anna van der Breggen, and more.

For Roglic, the criterium offers a chance to reconnect with fans and test his form after an encouraging finale to a difficult season, and a reminder that he remains a major force in the peloton, and is by no means done just yet.