Laurens De Plus (Jumbo-Visma) set an infernal pace on the climb (Image credit: Getty Images)
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) said that he still has work to do ahead of the Giro d’Italia in just over two months time, despite looking on superb form and winning the penultimate stage and all-but sealing up the UAE Tour overall classification.
Roglic will go into the Giro d’Italia as the sole leader of the Jumbo-Visma team for the first time in his career and will take four of the six teammates he has with him at the UAE this week.
“I think five guys that are here will go also with me to the Giro. We have mostly the team that will do races with me till the Giro will also go to the Giro. Normally, I think with me will go, of course, Laurens [De Plus] then Koen Bouwman, Jos van Emden, Paul [Maertens] and me.”
De Plus, who joined from QuickStep over the winter, was particularly prominent for Roglic in the final kilometres of the climbs. The 23-year-old has had a difficult couple of seasons after a heavy crash in the 2017 Il Lombardia and then being hit by a truck while training in South Africa just a few months later. Roglic praised De Plus’ efforts but was also keen to credit the entire team with their work throughout the race.
Always in control
Roglic has been in control of the overall classification right from the start of the UAE Tour after Jumbo-Visma won the team time trial on stage 1. He has extended his lead on each of the hilltop finishes and has never really looked in trouble.
While there is still plenty of time until the start of the Giro d’Italia on May 11, Roglic is not concerned that he has peaked too early in the season.
“You never know how you will start your first race, but it’s always nice to win it. If you can start like that it’s even bigger motivation with all the guys and show everyone that we can do a hard job to try and improve.
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Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.
