Bora-Hansgrohe have confirmed they will target the 2024 Tour de France with Primož Roglič as their sole leader, while Jai Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov have been selected in key supporting roles.
Roglič’s arrival at Bora-Hansgrohe has elevated the team’s ambitions for July, with overall victory the ultimate goal. The Slovenian’s season and that of his new team will thus focus massively on the Tour.
“I aim to be at my highest level for the Tour de France,” Roglič told reporters during the team’s media day in Mallorca on Wednesday.
Roglič will only start his 2024 season in March after an altitude camp. The early part of the season will be about Roglič and his new teammates learning from each other and creating a well-oiled squad for the Tour.
“For me it’s definitely quite a big change, eh… There are completely different colours,” Roglič joked of his move from Jumbo-Visma to Bora-Hansgrohe.
“There are new guys, new stuff, and new challenges ahead. After all these years with Jumbo-Visma team, joining Bora-Hansgrohe is a super welcome step for me. I’m looking forward to training more with everyone, to meet and speak to everyone and then we’ll see out on the road how we go.
“I’m excited for the new things we do together, we’ll push each other and try to create great memories and great stories together.”
Roglič finished second in the 2020 Tour de France, losing the yellow jersey in heartbreaking fashion on the penultimate day to his compatriot Tadej Pogačar. The 34-year-old has won the Vuelta a España on three occasion and he added the Giro d’Italia in 2023. Only the Tour remains to be won, and Roglič’s Grand Tour experience gives him the conviction he can win the race in Nice on July 21.
“I’m confident. It’s about executing it,” he said. “We shouldn’t be afraid, then the result is what it is, we can only do our best, then we can all be happy.”
Asked how he can beat former teammate Jonas Vingegaard, Roglič said: “There’s not much you have to do, you just have to be better than him. You can talk a lot, but at end of day you just have to finish ahead.”
Bora-Hansgrohe performance manager Rolf Aldag spelled out the strategy and rider long list.
He confirmed that Roglič and the team has still to decide if he will ride Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico and he hinted at a limited race programme, due to the Tour de France being the biggest, ultimate goal.
“We’ll have a single leader strategy: Roglič. But…
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