Cycling Weekly – August 22, 2019

32 | August 22, 2019 | Cycling Weekly

VUELTA A ESPANA

Up until about the third weekend of

the Giro d’Italia, Slovenian Primož

Roglič’s 2019 stage race record was

impeccable. He’d taken overall wins

in every stage race he’d started in the

early season — the UA E Tour, Tirreno-

Adriatico and Tour de Romandie

— and had kicked off the Italian tour

with a win in the opening time trial.

Several nonchalant days in pink were

followed with another victory in the

stage nine time trial. A lthough Roglič

had tactically surrendered the lead

to a couple of placeholders, he was

looking untouchable. But then, as

the race hit the mountains, a series of

misjudgements by him and his support

team saw the race slip from his grasp.

A top time triallist and very able

climber, the latecomer to pro cycling

really does have the all-round talents

of a bona fide Grand Tour winner. A nd

he is learning the trade fast. In all, at

29 years of age, Roglič has ridden just

four Grand Tours. Yet in each of these,

he’s claimed at least one stage, and

twice finished in the top five overall.

His eventual third place at the Giro

was actually testament to a certain

amount of keeping it together, despite

his sliding form and fortune.

What Roglič is yet to have done

is ride the Vuelta. On paper, the

conservative approach which he took

at the Giro may not seem suited to its

demands. But there’s different ways

that can play out. Maybe caution could

work for him. Or perhaps, having

exposed his imperfections earlier this

THE

CONTENDERS

year, he’ll attack it with the gusto with

which he finished last year’s Tour.

In 2018, Simon Yates came to the

Vuelta after things unravelled while he

was in pole position at the Giro. Could

history repeat for Roglič in the Vuelta?

PRIMOŽ ROGLIČ

Jumbo-Visma | Svn

Days racing in 2019: 42

Wins in 2019: 9

Podiums in 2019: 8

Like Yates last year, the former ski

jumper will be starting refreshed from

a summer break. He has something of

a point to prove and will be bringing

with him some valuable lessons from a

few months earlier.

Roglič could ‘do a

Yates’ in Spain this year