“Definitely, I still feel it, especially with my back, I need some time,” Primož Roglič admitted.
As the hours count down to the start of the 2024 Vuelta a España, Primož Roglič confirmed he still feels the effects of his major Tour de France crash but is unsure what impact his pain will have on his chances of a fourth overall victory in the Spanish Grand Tour.
And it's not only the physical pain. The Slovenian veteran has not raced since crashing hard on stage 12 of the 2024 Tour and cracking a vertebrae in his back.
Nonetheless, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe confirmed that Roglič will lead the team in the Vuelta, in a squad that also contains Giro d’Italia runner-up Dani Martínez, Aleksandr Vlasov and up-and-coming German star Florian Lipowitz.
Roglič is the current Grand Master of Grand Tour comebacks at the Vuelta His history of coming back from major Tour de France crashes at the Vuelta a España have seen him win in Spain overall for a second and third time in 2020 and 2021, as well as laying down a major GC challenge in 2022 and 2023.
Small wonder then that no sooner had his participation been confirmed in the Vuelta than Roglič became the favourite to be wearing red in Madrid in three weeks time, ahead of last year’s winner Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and UAE Team Emirates Adam Yates.
Roglič was in his usual good humoured mood on Friday morning but warned that the effects of the crash in France, most notably the pain he feels, have yet to disappear.
“Definitely, I still feel it, especially with my back, I need some time,” Roglič admitted.
“Normally by the end of the Vuelta it will be fine, so,” he added with a trademark laconic laugh, “I am looking forward to that.”
“Every week I’m feeling a bit better, but these things don’t get better overnight or one or three weeks. It takes time. I’m definitely good enough to do my ride [in the Vuelta], that’s why I’m here.”
“But I haven't done any racing since the Tour, so I will have to see how I am going and just how that pain will be with changes of rhythm in the race itself. Just racing. But I’m optimistic and for sure, every day that goes by, it’ll get better.”
Roglič did not have any doubts about the wisdom of taking part. But as he explained, there is no way he can change the pace of his recovery.
“It is how it is and I’m just going with it.”
The Slovenian’s good humour shone through when he explained his lack of punctuality for Thursday’s Vuelta a España team presentation, joining his team a full ten minutes after they’d headed onto the stage to greet fans. He had, he said jokingly, been too busy “studying Portuguese, and that’s why I was late.”
Roglič is one of three former Vuelta a España winners taking part in this year’s race together with Sepp Kuss (2023) and Nairo Quintana (2016).
He admitted that it would be strange to compete against Kuss, his long standing teammate at the Jumbo-Visma squad. Last year the two shared the final podium in the Vuelta, with Kuss securing a breakthrough first Grand Tour win and Roglič in third.
The 2024 Vuelta is the first time where the two race against each other since Roglič moved onto Red Bull during the winter.
“It’s true, for sure it’s a bit strange after so many years together, racing together, yesterday [Thursday] I almost joined them [Kuss and Visma-Lease a Bike] at the team presentation,” he said with a smile.
“On the other hand, we’ll go out there and try to achieve our best results. So it will definitely be a nice challenge to race against each other.”
Given the lingering effects of his injury, it remains to be seen what kind of race goals Roglič will have.
On paper, his past Vuelta history - both in terms of victories and his ability to bounce back from injuries in the past - makes him the key reference point. But at least initially, Roglič preferred to be cautious about his overall options, opting very much for a policy of ‘wait and see’.
“Honestly, it’s good I could just make it to the start, and somehow be in good enough shape to enter here,” he explained.
“I have to see how things will go and see how actually I will arrive. Based on that, later on, and on how the other guys are going, then I will make a decision.”
He graciously thanked one journalist who pointed out that he has a stellar history of making high-level comebacks in the Vuelta after difficult summers, saying simply "hopefully that will continue." But the shadow of the Tour crashes still persists, too, and to judge by the Slovenian’s description of its mental effects on him, it was hard to avoid the impression that the blow had been as big psychologically as it had been in terms of physical damage.
“For sure it was really hard,” Roglič, considered one of the four big top favourites prior to the Tour de France, said.
“I had put so much work into it - and not only me, my wife, my whole family, sacrificing all the time to do what I had to do.”
“But on the other hand, in life you always have challenges, things to overcome, things to fight for. So I was happy I could get support and trust and that I could somehow refocus and try to prepare myself for the Vuelta.”
The consequences, in any case, have been the same. After a difficult Tour de France, Roglič is back at the Vuelta, staking a significant part of his season on a top result in the Spanish Grand Tour.
From a broader perspective, one journalist pointed out, the Vuelta had always favoured Roglič, and as the Slovenian star put it, “the best outcome here this year would be to win.”
“We will see [about fighting for the win], obviously I’m happy to make it here to the start after the Tour and these weeks [of recovery]. Now I just have to be realistic, with myself and with the guys around me to see where we are standing.”
“Based on that I think we can make a further decision about how to race, how to approach it to get the best possible outcome. For sure the best outcome would be to win, nothing more. But really it’s about getting the best out of myself and my teammates and that’s something we have to look for.”
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