"With Roglic, we want to win another Grand Tour" - Slovenian hand-picked Belgian domestique for 2026 La Vuelta
Cycling
Primoz Roglic is a rider that is now not the main player at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, but he continues to have a lot of leverage. As the team decided on its plans for the 2026 season, the Slovenian himself asked new signing Gianni Vermeersch to join him at the Vuelta a España.
Roglic enters an important season in his career, potentially his last, with riders such as Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz as teammates - the two riders that have joined Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on the podium of the Tour de France in the past two seasons. He will neither race the Giro d'Italia or Tour de France; but has Tirreno-Adriatico, Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie on his schedule as he looks to return to his winning ways.
On the opposite side of the team is Gianni Vermeersch, a new signing for the German team, who is set to be a leader in the cobbled classics. The team recognizes this, besides removing firepower from the Mathieu van der Poel block throughout the season.
"Vermeersch will be a key player in that story. We can't drastically change his role at Alpecin. What he's done there is world-class. The trick now is to get him to do the same," DS Sven Vanthourenhout said in words to Sporza. The 33-year old has performed very strongly in the cobbled classics over the past few years and has been van der Poel's right-hand man already for a substantial part of his career.
And he was not brought into the team just to be a number, but to have specific roles and high expectations. "He's already valued within the team. His presence doesn't go unnoticed. He can contribute things like telling the wind, for example. Those things are important in the spring".
Vermeersch teams up with Primoz Roglic for La Vuelta
However one race that was perhaps not in his initial schedule, which has changed, is the Vuelta a España. "Initially, he'll be a very important figure in the spring. He'll ride almost everything there. In the second half of the season, the Vuelta will be on his schedule, and he'll play a very important role. With Roglic, we want to win another Grand Tour."
It might have been previous knowledge or just the feedback from Vermeersch's first months in the team, but Roglic took a liking to the Belgian and has specifically requested Vermeersch's presence at the Vuelta a España. The Belgian's experience on flat and hilly terrain, combined with his explosivity, makes him a strong asset which can be used in multiple ways even during a three-week race where sprinters and climbers take most of the spotlight.
"That really came alive at the team camp in November. Roglic suddenly raised his hand to say that little Vermeersch wasn't unimportant," Vanthourenhout explained. "We know what he's like, we know he can help create a team dynamic. In that respect, he'll do incredibly well,"
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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- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
- dude, Lemond never even was in the same race as Armstrong. He throws all these aspersions on other American riders who might usurp his throne as the greatest ever American racer. He doesn't say a single thing about (foreign) dopers who he actually raced against. Biggest douchebag move ever. I used to revere that guy, now I despise him. His actions are so weird.fatsupermodel02-11-2026
- This is just stupid, You do what you are good at not what you are weak at. He has no results to speak of when he participated. Even Froome, Conatdor had very little. With Pogi there he wont win none of the classics. he is already 30+ with a few years left at the top. It takes years to get good at classics. Is that really worth the effort???abstractengineer02-11-2026
- Sure, little fella.awp02-11-2026
- You'll be the ongoing joke of 2027 with anything you post here!frieders302-11-2026
- Awwww your inside information must be from PogiFanGirl. You two daughters of different mothers?frieders302-11-2026
- Hey PogIFanGirl...wipe that cream from your lips! You're ever loving drooling and whatever you have for Tadej has your brain fried!frieders302-11-2026
- Why should he 'let it go' ! Because you said so? Anytime LA Doper is called out is a win win !frieders302-11-2026
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