Roglic's physiotherapist talks about Jumbo-Visma secrecy regarding injuries and misdiagnosis: "Everyone kept quiet about it"

Primoz Roglic's crash at the Tour de France and subsequent abandon, and the influence he had on the race as a whole was a critical part of this year's Grand Boucle. More details emerge as the Slovenian's own physiotherapist has talked about his injuries, how Jumbo-Visma kept quiet regarding them, and his road to recovery.

In an interview with Sportal, Mit Bračič, physiotherapist who works with Primoz Roglic has talked about the situation. He struggled through the final days of the Basque Country with an injury, which Bracic explained: "At that time, Primož approached me with some assessments of his condition, which were completely wrong. Until then, he had not even undergone a serious examination. The team assumed that it was some kind of pain behind the knee and suggested that he take a pill, but he himself felt that it would not be enough."

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"As soon as I examined him with an ultrasound, I realized that it was a rupture of the sword muscle tendon. Primož performed an MRI the same day, where my assumptions were confirmed," he said. "Then we started working. For several hours a day. This is not classic physiotherapy, but it involves work for five or six hours a day. It should be known that, despite rehabilitation, a top athlete must not miss training... We adjusted the training so that he still rode the bike, but only at a certain intensity, at which there was no risk that his injury would worsen or recur. So that despite everything, he was able to maintain basic cycling form."

That form was then put to good use as the Slovenian rode alongside the team in preparation for the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he took the overall win and placed himself high up in the ranks for the Tour de France. He crashed on the fifth stage, and Bracic said he preferred Roglic to end his season and work on injuries that are prone from that and other crashes. The Jumbo-Visma rider headed to the Vuelta however, where he sits second after 13 stages. "So far he is doing very well at the Tour of Spain, I would say surprisingly well considering what he has been through this season," he added. "He has two very serious injuries. Even if he doesn't win and is at least on the podium, it will be a great success."

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However, the information was hidden at the time, even Primož did not mention it to me during the race, that he had problems with his back," he mentioned regarding the Tour. "That he fell so badly that he hurt his back. Everyone kept quiet about it at the time. I think they were silent because it was a team tactic for Primož to help Jonas Vingegaard beat Tadej Pogačar. Only when they finished the 11th stage, where Vingegaard gained a big advantage, it was clear that Primož had done his job".

"But the story was repeated when the team said that the injury was nothing, that he should take a pill. It wasn't until Primož took a magnetic scan in Monte Carlo on his own initiative and sent me a picture that we realized that the injury was not so innocent," he revealed, connecting the dots between Roglic's diagnosis.

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"He continued the tour at his own request, so that they could achieve team success," he said however. "He was not part of this success, because the team forgot about him, but still. That's right, that's top sport. Of course, I would rather see Roglič in the first place... Let's hope that this will also happen someday".

"The fact is that Primož sacrificed himself for the team's goal on the Tour, and there are few such athletes. Most of them are egocentric and selfish, but Primož is not even close to these descriptions".

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