Dominant Roglič so close at Paris-nice
Jumbo-visma’s Slovenian GC prospect falls at the final hurdle, but shows good form
Primož Roglič’s Grand Tour rivals will have looked on with a mixture of concern and respect last week, as he took Paris-nice by the scruff of the neck and dominated from start to – almost – finish.
The Jumbo-visma rider won three stages of the eight-stage Worldtour race, and having held the leader’s jersey from stage four onwards, looked well placed for overall victory going into the final stage. But two crashes – the first of which dislocated his shoulder – saw him dropped from the bunch and trail in more than three minutes down on the day’s winner Magnus Cort (EF Education-nippo) and Max Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe), who took his place as overall victor.
The Astana team completed the GC podium with Aleksandr Vlasov and Ion Igazirre in second and third places respectively.
Roglič will rue missing another yellow jersey when it looked all but won, after coming so close in last year’s Tour de France. But the Slovenian remained pragmatic in the face of defeat.
“I made some mistakes today. In the first fall my left shoulder was dislocated. Then I fell again,” he explained. “I gave everything, but I couldn’t get [back] into the first group anymore. It’s a shame, but on to the next one. This is also part of the sport. We will definitely be back in the next races.
“The world isn’t going to stop spinning,” he added.
With a performance like that in what was his first race of the year, Roglič can
“Roglič won three of the Worldtour race’s eight stages”
afford to brush off the misfortune of that final stage, for he has lifted the pressure off his own shoulders while satisfying his sponsors at the same time. It also bodes well for the Tour de France later in the year.
His form has even raised eyebrows among his team-mates, “It is unbelievable how he carries on here again,” Steven Kruijswijk told Dutch public broadcaster NOS. “Right at the start of the season, this was a main goal for him. When you see how easily he finishes it in the sprint… it doesn’t affect him and he just stands there,” he added.
Meanwhile last week’s Race to the
Sun was not without controversy, with questions raised over whether Roglič should have gifted young breakaway Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious) the win on stage seven instead of nipping past for the win; and reporters asking Schachmann whether he should have waited for Roglič on stage eight and whether he could feel happy with a win by default. In the first case, neither party felt there had been any wrongdoing, while in the latter, Schachmann said he had mixed feelings.
“I don’t know if I can be happy… it’s not nice to win like that, it’s very difficult,” he said.