Primoz Roglic shrugs off Algarve disappointment: "I feel I'm exactly where I should be at this early stage"
Cycling
Primoz Roglic started off his 2025 season with the Volta ao Algarve and it didn't quite fall into the expectations of the spectators and pundits. The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider shrugs it off however, having this race only as preparation for his bigger goals in the spring.
In declarations shared by the team following the final stage, Roglic said: “I really enjoyed this week. Obviously, it wasn't my main goal for the season, but I feel I'm exactly where I should be at this early stage. There's still a lot of work ahead, but things are moving in the right direction.”
Roglic didn't shy away from supporting Jordi Meeus in the sprints that followed the summit finish of the Alto da Fóia this week, and even there on stage 2 he followed a very abnormal tactic with two early attacks on the penultimate climb. There, he eventually finished ninth on the day, losing some time to João Almeida and Jonas Vingegaard.
The losses weren't dramatic, but today's time-trial into the Alto do Malhão did not go too well. Whilst the Slovenian did ride a very fast final climb, throughout the flat 17 kilometers he lost almost a minute to Vingegaard who would go on to win the stage. For the 35-year old, it was only a 12th spot on the results sheet and an 8th on the overall classification. This does obviously come as a surprise taking into consideration BORA's strong lineup for the week, but specially as he typically starts his season in good form.
Now, Roglic will take almost a month off of competition and then return at the Volta a Catalunya, where he is set to once again face off with Vingegaard once again. Roglic will race the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France this year, and so the slow start to the year doesn't come as a reason for concern.
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🇵🇹 #VoltaAoAlgarve
— Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe (@RBH_ProCycling) February 23, 2025
The concluding time trial at the Volta ao Algarve has ended. Primoz Roglic wraps up the race in 8th position, with Jordi Meeus taking home the green jersey.
📷 @GettySport pic.twitter.com/cA3tRI7TVr
He did the climb very well (similar times to Jonas) but not the flat part.
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- I don't think so, maybe in a different GT, not in the Tour. Last year, to be 3rd, he would have to be better than Remco. And he wasn't, on any terrainvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- Or sprinting, or against wind. I think by now they’ve optimised the tire tech and pressures to largely smooth out rider weight effects. BUT, I’m going to go through past podiums to see what weight distribution trends are to be spotted coz I’m curious now.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- I also wasn’t too impressed by the final lead out, they’ve got to practice that, Wout had far too long to ride alone but then again it seemed as if the lead-outs had themselves run out of steam too early which is what makes me believe none of them could have won, Powfull looked totally fresh and in the end it was just a case of him being stronger than the others, not much you can do against that, just like you can’t outdo MVDP in the end when he’s in shape.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Exactly, a rider (or sprinter in athletics) can’t even tell themselves when it will happen until it does. Obviously if you have an idea that could happen, you should maybe envisage testing your theory with perhaps an small sharp attack well before race-end.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Yes but 20 minutes as a domestique isn’t 20 minutes as a leader, and you know as well as anybody that Pog winning is in no way a guarantee. Granted, neither Pog nor Remco nor Jinas nor Primoz or some more winning starts to seem far-fetched but a podium would certainly be targetable if he doesn’t have to worry about Jonas.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- The final appeal he lost against his old team for « breaking » his contract.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- How exactly is that a good thing on cobbles or flat? Lower weight is only beneficial on a climbvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- I said much better, not better. He probably will improve but right now he needs about 20 minutes of free time to win the Tour against Pogacar. And the was offered leadership in Giro and other races but turned it downvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- If niermann this he can predict cramps, that would be helpful for a lot of people around the world. It was the standard strategy for Benoot and Jorgensen to attack and they should haveabstractengineer03-04-2025
- Wow! People have to understand that being light is absolutely a good thing on cobbles, as bouncing means you have to lift yourself over and over again. Being a lighter cyclist is always a good thing (ceteris paribus), unless you're going downhill.acem8203-04-2025