Primoz Roglic, weakened by injuries, decided to throw in the towel before the start of the 15th stage of the Tour de France led by his Danish teammate Jonas Vingegaard, Sunday in Rodez.
For the Slovenian (32 years old), the years follow one another and look alike in the Tour de France which continues to elude him. He had to leave the race well before term last year after a fall in the first week in Brittany.
This time, Roglic fell on the cobblestones of the North, during the 5th stage leading to Arenberg. He lost time and his status as co-leader of the Jumbo team which he shared at the start of Copenhagen with Vingegaard, the runner-up to Slovenian Tadej Pogacar in 2021.
Bruised to a shoulder and lower back, Roglic turned into a devoted lieutenant in the alpine stages, especially in the stage of the Col du Granon which allowed Vingegaard to dethrone Pogacar. He repeatedly received the thanks of the new yellow jersey, grateful to his elder.
The current limits of the Slovenian reappeared on Saturday in the ultra-fast start of the Mende stage. Roglic was left behind on the first climb before returning to the peloton.
On reflection, the rider and the team’s management have come to the decision of an early departure.
– The Vuelta in the viewfinder –
“To allow me to treat my injuries properly, we have decided that I will not start today,” Roglic said.
“I am proud of my contribution to the current standings and I am confident that the team will achieve our yellow and green ambitions. Thank you all for your great support,” he added on twitter.
His departure leaves the Jumbo team with seven riders facing the UAE formation of Pogacar, reduced for its part to six elements.
Roglic, fourth in the 2018 edition, accumulated disappointments then in the Tour. If he has three stage successes to his name, he above all experienced immense disillusion when he lost the yellow jersey on the eve of the arrival in 2020, in favor of Pogacar, during a time trial entered in history.
Winner this year of Paris-Nice then Dauphiné, in which Vingegaard (2nd) put himself at his service, Roglic is the triple reigning winner of the Tour of Spain which should now be his next big goal.
In the event of victory, the Olympic champion in the time trial would join the Spaniard Roberto Heras, who holds the record of four victories in the Vuelta since the Spanish justice validated one of his victories despite a positive anti-doping test and penalties for doping.
