"Roglič is our king and the king is difficult to let go" - Plugge says there is full intention on team to keep Primoz Roglic onboard

Some rumours spread like wildfire. Although he holds a contract for two more years and has ever talked about leaving Jumbo-Visma, for several months some have argued that he should leave the team in search of more freedom and leadership. Richard Plugge, team general manager, discards these rumours completely.

"There’s been no approach. Roglič is our king, as I’ve texted you in the past, and that’s still the case. He has won every GC race he’s started this year apart from this one and he has won 15 races this year. Why would I consider letting him go?" Plugge told GCN. "That’s a really difficult discussion but if teams are interested and there are rumours then maybe one day he is knocking on my door, but not yet. Roglič is our king and the king is difficult to let go. If you compare him to football, he’s a goal scorer who scores the most goals for our team, together with Jonas. If he leaves then we miss a lot of goals and we have to find someone who scores more goals and there’s not many people who can do that," Plugge added.

Namely INEOS Grenadiers, Movistar Team and Lidl-Trek have been mentioned, two teams now with very large budgets. The main point within the rumours focuses on how the Slovenian will never have a chance to lead the Tour de France again, because of Jonas Vingegaard's presence in the team. Roglic, an extremely successful rider this year who continues to show his very best level after a Giro d'Italia win, has been supported by the team in every race he's been at, now with the Vuelta a Espana however presenting a different challenge.

"We’ll see. We’ll see what the discussions will be and I can’t look forward or dive into things that might happen. We have to have the discussion and put it all on the table," Plugge said of a possible Roglic leadership at the Tour de France in the future. With Vingegaard being a reigning double Tour de France winner it will indeed be a hard task for the Slovenian, who now also was not overly satisfied with having to settle for a minor podium place at the Vuelta a Espana as Sepp Kuss benefited from a breakaway and is now heading towards a likely GC win.

“It was our challenge already and we have big stars in the team with also Wout van Aert, and Olav Kooij is winning more than 10 races this year. We’re used to it and we have to manage these stars," Plugge concludes. "We’ve done it for a couple of years and it’s not a bigger issue this winter than it was before. We don’t see it as an issue because we ask what people want and we find the best plan for everyone.”