Yellow jersey wearer Primoz Roglic finds it very special that with him and Tadej Pogacar the two strongest classification riders of the first week of the Tour de France both come from small Slovenia.
“It is wonderful that two boys from Slovenia are riding a bicycle so fast in France,” says thirty-year-old Roglic on the first day of rest on Monday. “It is bizarre that we, a country of two million inhabitants, currently have the two strongest riders in the world.”
The leader of Jumbo-Visma won one stage in the first Tour week and captured the yellow jersey in the ninth stage on Sunday. The only 21-year-old Pogacar lost a minute and a half in a fan stage on Friday, but was the strongest climber in the Pyrenees weekend. On Saturday he took 40 seconds on all his competitors and on Sunday he won the stage.
Pogacar is seventh in the standings at 44 seconds, but Roglic sees the leader of UAE Team Emirates as his biggest rival. “In the Pyrenees, Tadej was definitely one of the strongest riders. When he attacked on Saturday, no one could come with him and on Sunday he was very good again.”
Roglic emphasizes that the two compatriots will not give each other anything as a present. That could already be seen on Sunday, when they almost bumped into each other in a sprint for bonus seconds on top of the Col de Marie-Blanque. “Tadej is a super nice guy, we have a lot of respect for each other. But that does not mean that we say: today you win and tomorrow I win. It will remain a fight between us.”
‘Everything went perfectly in the first week’
Roglic confirmed his status as a top favorite in the first nine days of the Tour. Last year’s Vuelta winner already made a big impression in the Tour de l’Ain and the Critérium du Dauphiné in August, but a fall in the latter race seriously disrupted his preparation for the Tour de France.
“I decided on the Tuesday before the start at the last minute that I would travel to the Tour”, said Roglic. “It was certainly not an ideal preparation, but I started the race with confidence. And last week everything went perfectly, I feel a little better every day.”
Despite this, the always down-to-earth Slovenian remains cautious about his chances of the overall victory, the big goal of his team this Tour. “I am very happy and proud to be able to wear the yellow, but we don’t have much time to enjoy it. We have only just started the Tour, only in the third week the proportions will really become clear.”
Roglic does plan to defend the yellow in the second week. “We will do our best for that, just like my teammates I am super motivated for the coming days. But the most important thing is that we keep our focus. And that we stay healthy.”
The Tour continues on Tuesday with a flat ride from Île d’Oléron to Île de Ré. Along the Atlantic coast there is a chance of strong winds and fans.
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