Slovenian cyclist Primoz Roglic has conquered the Giro d’Italia, holds the record for the most Vuelta a España titles (four), and delivered his country’s first Olympic cycling gold medal in the 2021 individual time trial. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished riders of his generation, Roglič remains a respected figure in the peloton.
However, since his move from Visma–Lease a Bike to Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe for the 2024 season, in a bid to lead the team at the Tour de France and complete his Grand Tour treble, the road has been far from smooth for the veteran.
Crashing out on a descent near the finish line of Stage 12 and eventually retiring while in his first season at Red Bull, followed by an eighth-place finish in 2025, Roglic saw his bid for the elusive treble take another setback. Meanwhile, his teammate, German upstart Florian Lipowitz, impressed with a third-place finish in July while claiming the Best Young Rider honours, signalling a potential shift in leadership hierarchy.
“You have to be on the level to win races. That’s the goal of the team – to have the riders be there to fight for the wins,” Roglic said to reporters ahead of the Nov 2 Singapore criterium.
He even graciously lavished praise on Lipowitz, who at times was more of a competitor than a teammate during the later stages of this year’s Tour.
“He had a really great year, finishing third in the Tour de France. Hopefully, he continues his development and can make better steps.”
But aside from the pleasantries, having just celebrated his 36th birthday on Wednesday, time is ticking on Roglic’s pursuit of cycling’s rarest feat.
“For me, I just need to try to get to the level and fight with the younger guys around for the best places.”
And yet, the Slovenian has been made to sweat even more with the arrival of another “young guy”, Belgian Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel from Soudal–Quick-Step, who surely poses an even greater threat to the team leader position.
But the seasoned rider was candid about who would take on the role to contest the general classification.
“If I am not capable of winning races, I don’t want to be a leader. You need to be on the level of doing big teams and having the guys around you squeeze the best out of us.”
While the leadership conundrum will eventually fall into the hands of newly appointed Chief of Sports Zak Dempster, who inherits a stacked roster featuring 2022 Maglia Rosa winner Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari, Daniel Martínez, and Aleksandr Vlasov, the Australian will take comfort in knowing that Roglic remains firmly aligned with the team’s ambitions.
“For our team, at the moment, it’s not about who will be the leader but more about how to compete with teams like UAE Team Emirates XRG,” Roglic added.
It remains to be seen whether the all-rounder will cap off his illustrious career with a Tour de France crown, having come closest in 2020, when he lost out to compatriot and UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar on the penultimate day.
But it might not even matter to Roglic, who only transitioned to professional cycling at 23 after a ski-jumping career, and was oddly poetic about that agonising runner-up finish.
“It would have been nice to win it, but it gave me a lot more. If I look back to 2020, all the wins that followed after that might have never happened because I might have just closed that chapter.”
“But, yes, that little thing is missing, and it’s what kept me going and brought me so many good things. At the end, it would be nice to do it. But, also, I will survive without it.”
