Team director Ralph Denk blames Roglic's time loss on poor positioning and prepares for 3D chess game on Galibier

If we have to identify one loser from the opening weekend of the Tour de France, it would be Primoz Roglic. The Slovenian rider for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe lost time in Sunday's stage in Bologna, while the other three top favorites did not. However, team boss Ralph Denk is not panicking yet, as he discussed in the daily Inside Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe podcast.

After the third stage, won by Biniam Girmay, Denk reflected on the time loss. “Primoz started the second ascent of the San Luca climb in a pretty bad position, so he had to waste quite a bit of energy to get back into position. He probably fell a little short just when the acceleration happened at the front.”

“What we also observed is that Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard are at an incredible level,” added Denk. “The San Luca is also the final climb of the Giro dell'Emilia, and no one has ever climbed it as fast as they did on Sunday. This shows the talent those two have in their legs.”

Denk anticipates tactical chess by Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe

Tuesday brings the next big challenge, with the stage leading to the Col du Galibier. “I think it’s good that this stage is already on day four of the Tour, as it forces the favorites to reveal their strategies right away. It will be a spectacular mountain stage; I definitely expect that.”

What can we expect to happen? “I can imagine the big teams deploying their so-called shadow leaders. For Visma | Lease a Bike, that could be Matteo Jorgenson; for UAE-Team Emirates, possibly Adam Yates; and in our case, Aleksandr Vlasov or Jai Hindley. However, it's uncertain whether they will allow this from each other, especially since satellite riders can also play a role towards the Galibier,” he described the potential tactical chess that could unfold.