"Winning the Giro was one of the most emotional days of my career" - Primoz Roglic reflects on thrilling finale to 2023 Giro d'Italia

One of the esteemed guests at the presentation of the 2024 Giro d'Italia route was reigning Maglia Rosa, Primoz Roglic and the Slovenian took a moment to reflect on the thrilling finale to this year's edition of the race.

Heading into the penultimate stage, an individual time-trial up Monte Lussari, Roglic was trailing Geraint Thomas in the general classification. But in one of the greatest performances in modern cycling, not even a mechanical issue and bike change could stop Roglic adding the Giro d'Italia to his palmares.

"Watching the video of my Giro d'Italia win brought back a lot of beautiful memories. It's nice to remember nice things," Roglic said on stage during the presentation. "Winning the Giro was one of the most emotional days of my career. It was incredible. It's nice to live it all again and be part of it all."

Having now left Jumbo-Visma for BORA -hansgrohe and his goal rumored to be the Tour de France, Roglic isn't expected to return to Italy in 2024 however. "I've changed teams and know nothing about what we'll do in 2024 and have no personal plans. First things first, now it's winter," Roglic told Cyclingnews. "One of the good reasons to ride the Giro d'Italia is that when you win the first of the three Grand Tours, you can relax, you've already done a good job."

Roglic also shared a thought on the possibility of his Slovenian compatriot, Tadej Pogacar taking on the Giro d'Italia for the first time. "For sure, he should ride the Giro one day," he proposed. "We feel it's our race a little bit too, and so it's always beautiful to ride it for us."

"It's a bit of a different Giro route. There are hard finishes and a lot of time trials. No matter how long the stages are, the Giro is always a big challenge," Roglic concludes, referencing the 2024 profile. "The more towards the end you go, the more decisive the stages are. For sure, the Monte Grappa stage will be where the riders who want to win will have to go for it for the last time."