Roglich becomes a three-time “Vuelta a Espana” champion
Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Sept. 5, LETA. Slovenian cyclist Primožs Rogličs from the Jumbo-Visma team on Sunday became the three-time winner of the prestigious multi-day cycling race “Vuelta a Espana”, triumphing in Spain for the third year in a row.
“Vuelta a Espana” ended on Sunday with a 33.8 km long individual trip, which ended in Santiago de Compostela.
Before the final stage, Roglich’s closest follower in the overall standings, the Spanish Enrik Mass (“Movistar”), was two minutes and 38 seconds behind, so the Slovenian could feel quite confident about winning the tour. Rogličs scored the first place in the last stage and received greetings from his teammates at the finish.
Roglič, 31, won the first stage and was the leader after the second stage. In the fourth and fifth stages, the Estonian in the red shirt ran Interinche – Wanty – Gobert Materiaux, one stage in which the Frenchman Kenny Ellison (“Trek – Segafredo”) until Roglich regained the lead for four stages. The leader for the next seven stages was Odessa Christian Eiking from Norway, a member of the Taramäe team, but after winning the 17th stage, Rogličs regained the leader’s red shirt for the second time.
Rogličs was a springboard jumper from 2003 to 2011, becoming the world junior champion in team competitions in 2007. In 2012, he turned to cycling, joining a continental team a year later.
“Vuelta a Espana” took place for the 76th time in history. This year, none of the Latvian cyclists took part in the Spanish tour, although Krists Neilands was close to it, but the trauma prevented the Latvian from making his debut “Vuelta a Espana”.
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