Four-time Vuelta a España champion Primož Roglič will take part in the race this year, according to various media sources, but his ongoing recovery from injuries means the chances of the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe star going a record-breaking fifth overall win are apparently minimal.
After making the Vuelta his one Grand Tour goal of 2026, the chances of Roglič’s participation abruptly became very uncertain following a serious training crash where he was hit by a driver earlier this summer.
This led to the odds on his participation dropping as low as 50-50, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Ciro Scognamiglio, whilst the Slovenian himself cancelled planned Vuelta warm-up participations in both the Clásica San Sebastián and the Vuelta a Burgos.
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After weeks of uncertainty, while the decision has yet to be officially made public, both Gazzetta and Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Monday that Roglič will be at the Vuelta a España. However, it seems very uncertain that he will be in good enough race condition following his training crash to fight for a fifth overall win.
Roglič will look towards improving through the race and perhaps trying for stage wins in the second half of the race, Gazzetta suggested on Monday.
On paper the Slovenian veteran could have gone for a record-breaking fifth overall win and if in top form Roglič would very likely have been the main obstacle for leading favourite and compatriot Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). This summer, the rider who has dominated Grand Tour racing since 2020 will be back in the Vuelta for the first time since 2019, with the aim of winning it for a first time.
The one major caveat about Roglič not now being in a condition to fight for the Vuelta GC is that in previous editions he has won, he was also on the injury comeback trail.
.That was the case in 2021 and 2024, as well as in his ill-fated attempt to win in 2022, and all of which followed crashes and injuries in the Tour de France.
However, this time, both the exact date of the training crash and the scale of the injuries remain unknown. The question mark over what he will capable of doing in the Vuelta will likely linger until at least the first major challenges in the race – the high mountain stages in the Pyrenees next Monday and Tuesday.
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