"Roglic will say: no risk, no glory" - Veteran could headline the surprise transfer of the cycling season
CyclingMonday, 17 August 2026 at 21:30
Primoz Roglic is leaving Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe at the end of the 2026 season, something that has been confirmed by the team months ago already. The Slovenian's future is still undecided, and a shocking transfer might come to terms. On the CyclingUpToDate Podcast, Rúben Silva and Gavin Quinn have discussed the possibility of a move towards Lotto-Intermarché.
Fabio Jakobsen signs with Visma
That continues to be the headlining potential move in a week with several interesting confirmed transfers. Amongst them, that of Fabio Jakobsen, who has joined Team Visma | Lease a Bike on a mid-season move after mutually terminating his contract with Team Picnic PostNL.
"I personally like an underdog. I always have. I'm from Ireland, our sports teams, our athletes are always basically underdogs. And I love a redemption story," Quinn said of the Dutchman's move. After years of struggle and health issues, Jakobsen's level at Picnic has left much to be desired, bringing in only one win in a three-year deal. The 29-year old ended his time at Picnic with the confidence that Visma would sign him, and the move has been made official recently.
"I love when a rider gets to finish a career kind of on their terms or, you know, find a renewed sense of motivation. So there's no doubt, in sprinting it's possible. Like Mark Cavendish looked very much down and out, never going to win a Tour de France stage again, and he won several".
"So you really can't write it off. Sprinting is a case of 15 to 20 seconds where riders are judged and it's incredibly harsh at times, but it is their bread and butter. So I would love to see another 15, 20 seconds of Fabio Jakobsen upsetting the odds".
Jakobsen is one of the riders who has had the most difficulties in the World Tour peloton over the past few years, and this season has been rather lackluster. He has finished only one of his 26 race days within a Top15, which was in the non-World Tour AlUla Tour. But in Visma, he finds a structure with potentially better chances of bringing him back to his best level, and it would be a scenario that would not be unheard of.
"The Mark Cavendish scenario is a great comparison, maybe the best one," Rúben Silva argued. "Because Cavendish was also a pure sprinter, also passed the prime of his career". The transfer sees a collaboration until the end of 2027, meaning that there will be a full winter and season spent with the team.
"I'm going to set that maybe as a benchmark: I want him to win a race. I want him to win a race this year and I'm just going to put it on the table. I hope that he wins a stage at the Tour of Guangxi and make it that his first one".
Roglic to join... Lotto-Intermarché?
But the rumours surrounding Primoz Roglic have rang the loudest. With his contract ending at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, the pursuit for a new contract has begun. The 36-year old also appears keen on remaining in the peloton.
"During the Tour de France, he was linked with Pinarello - Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team". But now, Het Laatste Nieuws has reported there is a new team on the radar:
"Not vague, but let's say a small rumor. It's not likely to happen, but there's contact. He's now been linked to Lotto-Intermarché. And that is something I never expected to read waking up in the morning. You think that you're still in a little bit of a dream".
"So there is budget, there's a World Tour place, and there's a Roglic at the end of his contract. Is there the interest from Primoz Roglic to make this happen? Because you wouldn't... I mean, you would be shocked, but Roglic kind of seems like that kind of rider that would just make those kind of moves".
Silva argued that Roglic is not like most pro riders, and is open minded for such a transfer. "He's at the end of his career. He just wants to have fun. He wants to try something different. He would do that, wouldn't he? But is it beyond the world of logic? Or can we actually see Roglic ride for Lotto?"
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Why would Roglic potentially join Lotto?
"Roglic will say: no risk, no glory," Quinn argued. "So yeah, like when I first heard it, I kind of laughed to myself, because in many ways it makes no sense, or at least made no sense in my head for where Roglic is going to go".
The losses of Arnaud de Lie, Lennert van Eetvelt, Georg Zimmermann and Cedric Beullens - amongst others - opens up budget for the Belgian team, whilst no other big name has been linked to the team.
"Like you said, they're losing Arnaud de Lie, they're losing Lennert van Eetvelt, these are two of probably their highest paid riders - definitely De Lie. And the motivation for Lotto, I would say, is points".
"Lotto see a rider who can probably get 1000 points per season, a lot of kind of placings in summit finishes, can ride well on the Grand Tour, etc. So there's value for Lotto, for sure, even if they are paying a slightly inflated kind of wage compared to maybe the aggregate of riders that they can do so, but maybe those riders aren't around right now, Primoz Roglic is".
Primoz Roglic will leave Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe and at the time being the most likely destination is Lotto - Intermarché
Whilst points might be the priority for Lotto, there may be unexpected common ground between the two in the fact that Roglic might be looking for a team that offers what Lotto have. Rúben Silva elaborated on his theory:
"We sometimes forget about the human side, maybe. And I'm just going to put that in the spotlight, because he is 36, and he's won so much... It's hard for him to win in the same way that he has in the past, and it feels like I'm looking at a rider who wants to just stay a professional, and at the top level, and wants to have some leadership".
"The move to Lotto makes sense in one way to me, which is the fact that he has the right to go there and to say 'look, you don't have to build a team around me, I just want to come hhere and do my thing. When I want to chase GC, I will. When I want to chase stages, I will. Just let me do my own thing, keep having a block for the sprinters, and for the classics guys".
This year, the Slovenian has not taken part in the Giro d'Italia or Tour de France, something almost unheard of for the sport's top Grand Tour specialists. Instead, he often followed his own racing and training program; and is leading a young Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe at La Vuelta, where none of the team's other climbing leaders will be selected towards - unless there is a last-minute change.
"I think that him retiring is a possibility, I have argued this in the past, and I feel like the time is right, but it feels like the time is right... But he enjoys it, he enjoys the life of being a professional cyclist, or he's found good balance, and he wants to continue it".
"To back up something that you said, it would make a lot more sense for him to join a team like Pinarello, or let's say Pinarello is the ideal, because it's a team that's strong enough to back him up, but not strong enough for there to be someone challenging him".
"It feels like he wants to still be a professional, but he doesn't want that pressure that he's had for so many years of having a full team just helping him throughout the whole race, and then not win the race, not bring the result that he hoped for. He wants to do his own thing".
Over the coming months the future of Roglic will be made public, in what could prove to be a second shocking transfer following his sudden departure from Visma at the end of 2023, when there was a mutual agreement to end his ongoing contract to join the German team.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Agree with Hills33, this is a sad moment of endings.RidesHills17-08-2026
- @mistermaumau: yes, it becomes an ever-expanding spider web of accountability, complicity, guilt by association, etc. In the cycling world it’s not SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION from some major figure who doped. it’s maybe one or two, at best.OCexile17-08-2026
- that’s exactly where i’m at with lance armstrong. apologies because i’ve said this exact same thing before, but i couldn’t care less about armstrong doping or lying about it (why dope then NOT lie). i dislike armstrong precisely for the reason you mention. he’sa fundamentally bad person in my opinion. i think it might be more useful for everyone to rail against THAT when they say armstrong should be cancelled forever because he was a doper, because i don’t really think that’s the fundamental problem people have with him. i haven’t chosen to hold johan bruyneel or george hincapie responsible for the behavior of armstrong, but i respect the position of those who do. “if they choose to associate with someone like that then you get judged by the company you keep.” i understand.OCexile17-08-2026
- That's sad.Hills3317-08-2026
- ThHills3317-08-2026
- Given how he front-loaded his schedule, Vingegaard has raced 51 days this season. For those who think he's quitting early, it's worth looking at the numbers. For example, that's more race days than Pogačar had in 2023 and 2025, or Evenepoel raced in 2021 or 2025. Notably, some of those seasons also included injuries. Seems like his choice is similar to theirs, no?RidesHills17-08-2026
- Vingegaard has never been much of a classics racer, and he isn't going to start at this age and with these constraints to his career (the importance of family to him, Pogačar at the Tour, things like that). When he has raced Liége-Bastogne-Liége or any other classic, he's been fine, but not great. He last raced a monument in 2022. I've said before that his 4 grand tour wins put him on par with just 15 other riders in cycling history. Were he to win another Vuelta or Giro, he'd tie for 9th place - were he to win two, he'd be tied for 8th. That's a hell of a career, and there's nothing wrong with specializing in grand tours and GC races. Contador did the same, Froome as well. Vingegaard right now has the same grand tour record that Nibali did (and the same number of wins, 54!), but Nibali won 3 monuments, while Vingegaard has been more successful in the GC races. Point being, Vingegaard won't be missed at the world championships because he's never been the kind of rider to win them. And that's perfectly fine.RidesHills17-08-2026
- Duh...bobo17-08-2026
- I single out Postal and everyone associated - I don’t believe the other dopers took measures to destroy people who criticized them, unless I’m mistaken.Crashjames17-08-2026
- Best wishes for next year, young man, as you finalize your contract with the **CMA CGM Team**. But for 2028, don’t chase the money—chase the **legacy**. Join EF Education–EasyPost; hopefully by then they’ll have a sponsor big enough to afford you! They’re the kind of team that could build a team around your growth and give you the weapons to take down Pogi and Del Toro. The money will come eventually, but **legacy lasts forever—and maybe you can finally bring France another Tour de France champion after more than 40 years!wambo17-08-2026
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