“Time is ticking” - Is Primoz Roglic on the decline after Giro d’Italia disaster?
CyclingFriday, 30 May 2025 at 15:00
Two years after his triumphant ride in Rome, Primoz Roglic
returned to the Giro d’Italia in 2025 with high hopes and even higher
expectations. Backed by the might of Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe and billed
once again as a favourite for pink, the Slovenian instead endured one of the
most damaging grand tours of his career, and this is certainly saying something.
Four crashes across three weeks, no stage win, and ultimately, abandonment on
Stage 16.
The scenes were depressingly familiar. In Wielerflits,
veteran Belgian journalist Hugo Coorevits captured it best: “Images of the
abandonment of a top favourite during the race are always shot hastily… the
rider silently gets into the car, his head bowed.” It was, as Coorevits pointed
out, “already the fifth time that he had to abandon the battle in this way in a
major tour.”
That line stings, not because it's unfair, but because it's
true. The Giro 2025 didn’t just mark a defeat; it’s a continuation of a brutal
pattern. Roglic’s palmares is the stuff of legend, four Vueltas, one Giro, an
Olympic title, his Grand Tour story has long teetered between brilliance and misfortune.
His resilience is legendary, but by definition, follows trauma. And Roglic has
had more than his share.
Coorevits reflects on a telling moment from last year’s
Critérium du Dauphiné, when Roglic insisted on starting a stage despite a heavy
fall the previous day. “Even though he could not even reach into his back
pocket with his left arm to get some food,” Coorevits recalls, “Primož did not
want to give up.” That stubbornness, once seen as a strength, now raises a more
uncomfortable question: is he fighting battles his body no longer wants?
Roglic is set to return to the Tour in July
Roglic’s 2025 Giro never looked convincing. There were
crashes no one saw clearly, as Coorevits notes: “There is often a haze of
uncertainty surrounding Rogla's falls. Rarely, if ever, are they properly
captured on film.” The crash on the gravel in Tuscany, the recon incident
before the second time trial, the spill in Gorizia, each one chipped away at
his chances and, perhaps, his confidence.
The clearest sign something was wrong came before his
withdrawal. “He never sprinted for the bonus seconds,” Coorevits points out.
For a rider who built a career on collecting marginal gains, snatching seconds
wherever possible, that silence was deafening.
Still, the speculation around Roglic’s future erupted the
moment he left the race. “He’s done,” claimed a young podcaster, quoted by
Coorevits. But the Belgian journalist was quick to push back: “Maybe. But I
think it’s too early for such assertive statements.” And he’s right, remember
less than a year ago Roglic bounced back from another Tour disaster to win the
Vuelta.
He turns 36 in October. And while age doesn’t define a
cyclist’s end, it certainly narrows the runway. “Time is ticking,” Coorevits
acknowledges, adding that Roglic’s dream of winning the Tour still burns bright,
especially after the heartbreak of 2020, when he lost yellow to Tadej Pogacar
in the now infamous Planche des Belles Filles time trial.
But the landscape has changed. Back then, Roglic looked like
the most complete GC rider in the world. Now, he’s one of four or five
outsiders behind the trident of Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Evenepoel. Maybe the
question we should be asking ourselves is would Roglic still be going if he had
won that Tour title in 2020?
Coorevits closed with a poignant reference to another
cycling legend, “Miguel Indurain is the most striking example: in the Tour in
1996 he was outpaced by Bjarne Riis, and in the subsequent Vuelta a España he
turned around during a stage and cycled back to the hotel. ‘Miguelón’ had
understood that his time was up.”
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- Absolutely! He is incredible, he easily went up and down with the GC riders.
maria2024202409-06-2025 - IMHO he has more muscle mass than ever! Yeah! The last 3 stages will be more interesting because of this "new" variable.maria2024202409-06-2025
- Jonas is good enough to capitalize on a bad day for Pogi. That can be enough to win the TdF. He's just highly unlikely to win if neither have a bad day.Veganpotter09-06-2025
- Totally! JV sprinting well with no racing, RE catching up well with inspiration from Yates, MVDP climbing well with injury on MTB training, and Pog just being well, Pog, with a useless team. Hard to imagine a better scenario with all the upcoming talent coming to test them. Feel sorry for sprinters, they might only get side roles if it’s a GC battle from the go. But, let’s enjoy this week first and keep fingers crossed that for once there’ll be no major crashes.Mistermaumau09-06-2025
- His problem, besides everything, he doesn’t know what he wants and so dilutes his strength everywhere, he’s no Pog or MVDP and probably won’t ever be.Mistermaumau09-06-2025
- It was just risky, not silly. Might be worth having a quiet word with a select lesser-known rider or two for your next attempt.Mistermaumau09-06-2025
- Cogs or outfit?Jumpyjohn09-06-2025
- Jonas was very light with less muscle mass in 2024 due to his time off the bike. I think he is in prime climbing form, I expect this week to be intresting.awp09-06-2025
- Jonas looks stronger, with more muscle mass than ever. Will that extra weight influence in his climbing skill? I can't wait to watch the last 3 stages!maria2024202409-06-2025
- Jonas puts some muscle kilos in his body... I'm very curious to understand if that will be translated in climbing less easy for him.maria2024202409-06-2025
Sure you can ask, but what’s the point to do it mediatically and then just before an announced TdF? It makes it sound like either someone is trying to convince him to cancel, change the betting odds, help another rider beat him or take his place or just desperately trying to make news. Other riders get to announce their retirement as and when they feel it’s best, he’s still the teams’ best option and a far better investment than Mr Froome.
Also, sorry but the whole concept behind this kind of cycling IS fighting battles the body doesn’t want, anyone who says that’s not so has never seriously trained for an endurance sport event.