Celebrations at the finish in Madrid: Despite a decimated team, Primož Roglič was once again unbeatable at the Vuelta.
Foto: imago/ABACAPRESS
Madrid is once again a triple location. Last year, Sepp Kuss completed a triple victory for the Dutch racing team Jumbo-Visma. With him on the podium were Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič. The Dane had previously won the Tour de France and the Slovenian the Giro d’Italia.
This year Roglič, who has since moved to the German racing team Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, was again involved in a triple, this time a Slovenian one. His compatriot Tadej Pogačar had previously won the Giro and Tour. And Roglič seemed visibly moved when he was asked about this component of his fourth Vuelta victory. »This is phenomenal. Who would have thought that our small nation would win all the Grand Tours in one season,” he said.
In fact, only the two major cycling nations France and Spain have managed to do something like this. In 1964, Jacques Anquetil secured the French triple at the Giro and Tour and his eternal rival Raymond Poulidor at the Vuelta. For Spain in 2008 it was Alberto Contador at the Giro and Vuelta and Carlos Sastre at the Tour. And the late risers from Great Britain were only able to win all the major tours once, namely in 2018 with Christopher Froome (Giro), Geraint Thomas (Tour) and Simon Yates (Vuelta). Slovenia is now also in this series.
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The country also owes this to comprehensive youth sports support. Great talents like Pogačar are discovered and supported early on. Talents who are eliminated from one sport, like Roglič as a ski jumper, still remain in the system and succeed in completely different areas. The 34-year-old former ski pilot is now a major figure in cycling. After his fourth triumph, he is the sole record winner of the Tour of Spain. He was also on the Tour podium. He has also been an Olympic time trial champion since the Tokyo Games.
On the way to the Vuelta record, Roglič had to overcome two moments of crisis. On the sixth stage, his team let a breakaway group get too far away. The Slovenian wanted to give up his red jersey – he had already done so during his victories in 2020 and 2021 in order to avoid press conference stress for himself and leadership work for his team. However, Ben O’Connor took a little too much lead with more than six minutes. Roglič had to fight to catch the Australian again. Day after day he made up 30 seconds, sometimes almost 60 seconds, until he put things right again on the third-to-last stage and took the lead with a day’s victory on the Alto de Moncalvillo.
“Now I want to enjoy this victory first and then go home quickly.”
Primož RogličVuelta record winner
The second test followed the day after. Half of his team complained of stomach problems. Two of his helpers, Colombian Dani Martinez and Austrian Patrick Gamper, dropped out during the race. Team leader Nico Denz fought alone against his rebellious stomach and the time limit for 160 kilometers, far behind the field. He won the battle against the entrails and reached the goal. However, the fight against disqualification was lost by 56 seconds.
Roglič wasn’t feeling well that day either. He admitted at the finish that he had to go to the toilet around 20 times. “I felt it in my stomach too,” he said. The team suspected food poisoning because caregivers were also affected. In the last two days of the Vuelta, everyone who remained there was separated as best as possible, explained team boss Ralph Denk. As second on the day, Roglič was able to finish the final time trial appropriately and even extend his lead.
“Now I want to enjoy this victory first and then go home quickly,” said Roglič after his record success in Spain. At the end of the season he is planning the Tour of Lombardy in October and the Road World Championships in September. As of now, Pogačar will continue to write the Slovenian success story of this season as team captain at the World Cup. Next year Roglič wants to once again aim for victory in the Tour de France, the last remaining Grand Tours that he has not yet won. Then he is already 35 years old. But team boss Denk still saw a “gleam in the eyes” of his top rider hungry for victory at the Vuelta.
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