"Roglic is a very good guy to work for. He's pretty chill" - Rohan Dennis on Roglic domestique role, time-trials responsibility and 2023 goals

Rohan Dennis is settling into a domestique role, and he has talked about his relation with Primoz Roglic who he's worked for the in the past Vuelta a Espana, and also about his relation with performance pressure and plans for the start of the 2023 season.

“Everything is so well organized that it's only your fault if you don't perform. That's nice," Dennis said in an interview with Rouleur. “It comes with extra pressure, but that's a responsibility you have as a pro anyway. I'd rather have this than showing up at a race and noticing that your bike isn't set up properly, or the brakes or the material is second-hand, so you have a disadvantage.”

Dennis is a rider who's had plenty ups and downs throughout his career, including sudden mid-season departures from his teams, but also two World titles in the time-trial discipline. A rider of two extremes. “I'd rather have some pressure on my shoulders, knowing that everything is perfect in terms of material, nutrition and the like, than that those things are all my own responsibility,” he said, having his presence in Jumbo-Visma who are frequently hinted as the most logistics-oriented team. 

“It's a good place to be," the Australian thinks. "If you finish a race and don't win, you don't have to think: I could have won if this or that had happened. If you do that here, you're just complaining. There is no excuse not to perform now.”

In 2022 Dennis won the Autralian and Commonwealth national titles. Two small achievements for his palmarès, in a season that was overall under the radar. He was in the battle for the victory at the Tour de Romandie, but in the final mountain time-trial where he was expected to perform, he had a bad day and ended up finishing only eighth. His only Grand Tour of the season was the Vuelta a Espana where he fully focused on helping the Slovenian in his pursuit of the red jersey.

"Roglic is a very good guy to work for. He's pretty chill. I think he likes his freedom. If he wants to go forward, follow him," Dennis said. "He's not one to let his teammates ride themselves to death to keep him up front. That was a big blow to us. He had a very good chance. I mean, coming second was the worst thing that could have happened.”

Dennis talked about his battle with Remco Evenepoel, specifically mentioned the moment where he crashed on the 12th stage: “You don't want to exploit someone's bad luck. But we wouldn't just let him win. It is part of the sport to find and exploit the weaknesses of opponents. Before the fall he did not show much weakness in the descents, but afterwards he was a bit nervous. There were some cracks.”

Hence, Jumbo-Visma began attacking on the 14th stage to Sierra de la Pandera, and Roglic began clawig back the gap on the Belgian. The efforts came down on the 16th stage however, where he abandoned the race after crashing out in sight of the line, after distancing the eventual Vuelta winner.

“The day Primoz fell into the final, those cracks showed. It was a bit technical and nervous, it was a bit of a fight. It was there where Remco fell back and got out of position. Luckily for him, he had a flat tire in the last three kilometers," Dennis continued. It is now water under the bridge however, and he's looking forward towards another year with the Dutch team - his last contract year, for now.

“The Tour Down Under is back, I would like to put in a good performance there," he reveals. "After that I don't know if I'm going to the Giro or the Tour. Of course, the Tour would be a good preparation for the World Championships, which will take place ten days later. And the World Time Trial Championship is another race that I want to go all out for.”