Primoz Roglic wants "an open and honest relationship" with new teammate Remco Evenepoel in 2026

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe has signed many leaders and the truth is in 2026 there will already be a very wide set of strong climbers. Even if Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari are willing to put their ambitions aside, the team has to manage the goals of Florian Lipowitz, Primoz Roglic and now Remco Evenepoel. Roglic wants to have a conversation and build a relationship with the latter as it will be key as the two are inevitably teaming up throughout the year.

However at the ongoing World Championships, Roglic has ambitions and the season is still far from finished for him. He will not be leading Slovenia in Kigali, naturally that honor falls on the shoulders of defending champion Tadej Pogacar, but the veteran doesn't look to just have a supporting role.

"It's going to be a challenge. I don't have much chance of a top spot. Tadej will be there, and Remco is flying right now. And besides them, there are ten other riders who could perform well on Sunday," Roglic said in words to Slovenian Delo.

Roglic in fact does not hide that he will try to go for the rainbow jersey despite his teammate being the man to beat. "I probably won't be at ten more world championships, and I don't know what I can achieve if I don't try. Besides, Slovenia has nine riders, which is a special honor. So we're going to give it our all."

In the past the veteran has put on great performances in one-day races, specially those guided towards the climbers, and the Rwandan circuit is definitely one such - furthermore, Roglic is explosive and even in a sprint finish, he could take a victory regardless of the quality of the riders around him.

But he admits that he may not have his best level. "I did do some long training rides, but otherwise I stuck to my usual method. That worked for me in stage races, and we'll have to see if it works for such a specific one-day race as the World Championships".

"Moreover, the conditions are special, because I leave Spain on Thursday and don't arrive in Rwanda until Friday. We'll have to see if that works. It's a risky move, but it was the only way to prepare for this World Championship".

Whilst he did not want to devote much attention into matters of the upcoming season, Roglic was asked about Evenepoel with whom he'll team up next year after the team bought his contract from Soudal - Quick-Step, and he gave an honest response:

"I think it will be very important for us to have an open and honest relationship from the start of our collaboration. There hasn't been any discussion within the team about what will happen next season".