Roglic believes the Vuelta will be much more than a duel between him and Vingegaard: "It's not just us"

Primoz Roglic will try to win the Vuelta a España for the fourth time in the 2023 edition, which would equal Roberto Heras' all-time record of victories, in a year in which Jumbo-Visma has decided to join him in the Spanish round Jumbo-Visma and where he will have to face the winner of the previous edition, Remco Evenepoel.

In an interview with diario AS, the Slovenian rider says he is in top form and looking forward to the Spanish round: "Yes, of course, I'm always ready. I'm excited. It's good to be racing again, not just training, so I'm looking forward to the start and these next few days."

He is asked about the two mythical climbs that the 2023 Vuelta will have, Angliru and Tourmalet, but Roglic believes there are many more points to take into account: "You mentioned those two as the best known, the biggest, but the battle for the general classification will start from day one, with the team time trial and also the mountains in the first week. So probably the most decisive thing is just consistency. Being good from start to finish will be crucial."

He does not want to focus on Vingegaard as his main rival and makes it clear that there are more riders who will fight for the victory in Madrid: "Obviously, we are here to do our best with the whole team. If we can both be on top it would be even better, but as I said it's not just us. There will be a lot of guys in great shape and of course we will try to do the best we can with what we have."

"He definitely showed that he's moving up year after year. He's a young kid, but very talented. We'll be up there to compete, too."

"It would be fun. First of all, I need to get there to start. Second, to go all the way   And lastly, I need to be qualified to win, but like I said, the first thing is to be focused on taking steps at the beginning and we'll see how it goes."

"We'll see. In the end, you have to be the strongest with the guys racing with you and you also need a little bit of luck. But, for the moment, I'm happy, I'm healthy, so my goal is to continue like this."

EVENEPOEL.

"He's definitely just won two top races, the Clasica de San Sebastian and being the world time trial champion, so I'm sure he'll be super strong right away from the start in Barcelona."

"I was happy for sure. I wanted to win in Catalonia to add it to my palmarès and it went well in the end. I like strong competitions, because they push you to be an even better rider and I'm looking forward to this year, to the Vuelta, to fight again."

"I like it. I try to enjoy it and I'm sure we'll enjoy it around here this week too."