Will he or won’t he, cycling pundits and fans have been asking for the past fortnight. Winner of the Vuelta a España for the last three years, Primoz Roglič’s participation in the final Grand Tour of the season has been in doubt as he tried to recover from crash injuries that forced him to withdraw from the Tour de France for the second consecutive year. But on Monday Jumbo-Visma announced that the Slovenian would defend his triple crown, the 77th edition starting on Friday.
Roglič crashed into a hay bale in the fifth stage of the Tour, dislocating his shoulder and acquiring fractured vertebrae. He hung tough and his attacks on the stage to Col du Granon were key in causing compatriot Tadej Pogačar’s implosion. Finally, Rogla could take no more and he did not start Stage 15. He was unable to train for a while, but is fit enough to race.
The 32-year-old former ski jumper won Paris-Nice and the Critérium du Dauphiné this season, as well as placing eighth in the Itzulia Basque Country, as race he led for four stages before losing the plot due to a knee injury.
The Vuelta has been a consolation prize for Roglič over the past three years. After coming third in the 2019 Giro d’Italia, he claimed his first red jersey. A second Vuelta title bucked him up following his stunning Tour de France loss to Pogačar. Last year, having also abandoned the Tour due to crash injuries, he earned the hat trick.
Roglič will have Sam Oomen, Sepp Kuss, Rohan Dennis, Robert Gesink and Mike Teunissen working for him at the Vuelta.
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