Red Bull DS insists Primoz Roglic is at 2025 Tour de France to win: "If he wanted to just travel around France with a bike, I’m sure that his bank account would allow"

Primoz Roglic has been notably quiet in the early stages of the 2025 Tour de France, seemingly content to keep himself to himself and fly under the radar. Whilst the Slovenian has also been quite quick to stress a Maillot Jaune win won't define his career, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe DS Rolf Aldag insists that shouldn't confused with a lack of intent.

"If I’m honest, I don’t care, you know. Like, I mean, picturing this or that… like I already said, you know, whether I have ten Tours de France or one or none, it’s not going to turn my career around. It’s not going to change it," Roglic summarised in an interview with ITV Sport ahead of stage 1, which drew some criticism, when asked about the potential of standing on the top step of the podium by the time Paris rolls around. "I’ve won some races. I’m f*cking proud of it. And we’ll just try to enjoy it here."

"That’s a slap in the face for your teammates. If he wasn’t there yesterday because of a lack of position or whatever it was, and he’s saying, ‘I don’t care’ and then not trying almost," TNT Sports pundit and former British national champion Adam Blythe reacted to Roglic's interview. "It’s an awful thing to say. It disrespects your whole team, the staff around you."

As mentioned though, Aldag insists that Roglic's ease of mind should not be confused with a lack of intent of care when it comes to winning the Tour de France. "We all have a purpose to be here. It’s not just to spend three wonderful weeks in France," Aldag says in quotes collected by Daniel Benson on his substack. "I think that he could afford a holiday with his family if he wanted, so if he wanted an alternative and to just travel around France with a bicycle, I’m sure that his bank account would allow him."

"He’s still a very ambitious bike rider and we’re an ambitious team that supports him in that," adds the DS. "We’re here for results with Primoz, with Jordi Meeus and hopefully some others if the chances are there.”

And despite some early time loss, Aldag is confident Roglic is still very much in the mix for the Maillot Jaune. “There’s been no drama. Luckily, there’s been none so far, but we’ve seen how quickly it can happen in the Tour de France, so we cross our fingers that none will happen," he explains on Roglic's position in the peloton. "On purpose, we’ve decided not to take huge risks, even if the consequences are to lose some seconds, and that’s where we are now so I think that we can be happy.”