While compatriot Tadej Pogacar arrived in Nice like a king on Sunday, Primoz Roglic was undoubtedly back at home and in pain after abandoning the Tour de France. Again. Fortunately, there is always the Vuelta for the Slovenian, who has won the Spanish race three times. How realistic is it now that he will start the Spanish race in mid-August?
According to race director Javier Guillén, the chances are high. A few days ago, he announced that Roglic "in theory" should be at the start of his race. This might be a case of wishful thinking, as the other top riders (besides Pogacar, also Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel) are not heading to the start in Lisbon.
Continue reading below the photo.
In the Inside Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe podcast, team boss Ralph Denk was confronted with Guillén's statement on Saturday. The German responded rather nonchalantly. "Then he knows more than I do. Primoz is only training on the home trainer, so as far as I know, it's still unclear whether he will participate in the Vuelta," said Denk, whose team finished last in the prize money ranking of this Tour de France.
"I am sure the director would like him at the start, but I cannot confirm that yet," added the CEO of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. There is also no decision yet regarding Aleksandr Vlasov, who broke his ankle in the gravel stage. However, the climber is doing well, as he did not have a severe fracture and did not need surgery.
According to initial reports, Roglic did not suffer any fractures in his Tour de France crash, but Denk mentioned that he was bruised all over his body. It was a hard blow for both the team and the rider, who had put everything into this year's Tour de France.