Bennett celebrates team-mate’s Vuelta win
Less than a decade ago, Primoz Roglic was flying through the air on a pair of skis with no thoughts of ever being earthbound on a bike.
Yesterday, the Slovenian claimed one of cycling’s biggest prizes, winning the three-week Vuelta a Espana.
Roglic only took up cycling in 2012 after he gave up on ski jumping. He quit his first love following a harrowing crash when he lost control early in a jump, slammed into the ramp and twisted and tumbled the rest of the way down.
He found that two wheels pegged to the road were a perfect match for his slim but athletic build and became one of cycling’s rising talents given his superb time trial performances and his ability to hang with the best climbers in the mountains.
Now he must be counted among its best and a contender for its biggest prize: the Tour de France.
Roglic won the Vuelta after wearing the red leader’s jersey for the final 11 days, finishing more than two minutes ahead of world champion and former winner Alejandro Valverde.
It was his first grand tour win after the 29-year-old was fourth in the 2018 Tour de France and third in the Giro d’Italia in June.
Following custom, riders respected the leader’s lead on the 21st and last stage when the race made its traditional finish in Madrid. Roglic was flanked by yellow-clad Jumbo-Visma teammates as they arrived in the Spanish capital.
‘‘Thanks to everyone who was involved at the end in this big result,’’ Roglic told the cheering crowd from the top of the podium. A small group of Slovenian fans waved their country’s flag.
He showed his toughness by never flagging through the climb-heavy Vuelta, even when Valverde’s Movistar and a strong Astana team led by Miguel Angel Lopez tested him again and again.
Roglic was supported by a deep Jumbo-Visma team that included Kiwi George Bennett who finished well out of top-10 contention in 33rd, but he still had to prove he could do it alone when they were dropped by Movistar’s and Astana’s fiercest attacks in the mountains.
Roglic was considered the prerace favourite, after other top riders such as Tour winners Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas and last year’s Vuelta winner Simon Yates opted not to compete in the race.