Roglic thought about ending career after crash at Tour: "Do I still want to go through all this?'

It was undoubtedly a wonderful feeling for Primoz Roglic as he stood on the highest platform of the Vuelta a España for the fourth time. The Slovenian of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe took revenge for his failed Tour de France.

Roglic hoped to finally capture his highly desired yellow jersey in the Tour de France, but the German top team's leader went down hard in the twelfth stage. The consequences were so severe that the GC rider could not continue. After examination, Roglic was found to have fractured a vertebra. That was hard on him, he told the Slovenian Nedelo.

After another setback on the Tour, Roglic thought about quitting, and he confessed. "After all, I'm only human, too. And when it happened to me again, I started thinking about what I need: do I still want to be part of the cycling world and go through all this?" the Slovenian wondered aloud. In 2021 and 2022, his compatriot Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) defeated him from pole position.

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Roglic on role of family: "Support from loved ones is exceptional"

Fortunately, the dark thoughts eventually gave way to pleasant memories. "On the other hand, all these unpleasant events in my career, which I wish had not happened, have also brought me many positive things. The support from my family and other loved ones when I get up after a fall is exceptional," Roglic said.

And so Roglic took off in the Vuelta, although his back injury had not fully recovered. "Despite this support, it wasn't easy to ride the pedals in pain, but the support made it much easier for me to decide how to proceed. So in the end, the decision to start the Vuelta again after another crash in the Tour was quite easy," concluded the eventual overall winner in Spain.