Teams & Riders Everybody needs a little bit of Roglstomp in their lives

[SHAD0W93]

Damn.

The crash?
Age?
Lack of base in the winter?
Messed up his prep?
Just a bad day?

I would say it’s primarily the Tour crash last year. His climbing hasn’t been up to expectations since and it keeps getting brushed aside because he hangs on and sprints away at the end. Happened at Vuelta, TA, and VaC. Add in the crashes earlier and Almeida being in great form despite being overlooked. I think he can bounce back but will lose time in the MTT.

 

[Rackham]

Keep in mind Dennis is a notorious troll so everything he says (especially in situations like this) should probably be taken with a pinch of salt.

As for Rog, he might need to get creative if he wants something better than the 2019 Giro (maybe launch on a descent?). It's probably (crashes & horrible stuff notwithstanding) the sh*ttiest day he's had on a bike in a long time, i.e. worse than the Covatilla & Angliru in 2020 because at least in those situations he had a cushion. Here he's now chasing & he's not on the same climbing level as the top two. Unless that changes between now & Thursday, this is going to be a cr* p Giro.

 

[how yes no?]

I don't think this was only a bad day.
He had enough chances to test the legs, even on Sunday he could stick it in more in the "why not, eh?" way, so my thinking was the he is either waiting for a nuclear snipe when he decides to do it, or that he just doesn't have it. Not only was it not nuclear, it was being happy to lose only the time that was lost.
So I'm inclined to think, he just doesn't have it.
As to why, probably only him and the team know.
Maybe the hope was that by pacing they would prevent attacks from others, but for that Kuss would have to go to the front after Denis, or just pace it a bit slower through the whole day, so the team would last a bit longer with the pacing. Of course this strategy makes sense only if you think others are stronger.
Since they went harder than they could, they maybe didn't expect this outcome either, but I'm not sure if that's because they expected Roglič to be better, or others to be worse. In the first scenario, there is maybe still a glimmer of hope, in the latter, well, gg.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Well maybe all he needs is a couple of more days, but these guys he's facing is not getting worse after every stage, quite the contrary. Still has a pretty good shot though IMO, stage 18 should suit him better.

 

[Red Rick]

Damn.

The crash?
Age?
Lack of base in the winter?
Messed up his prep?
Just a bad day?

Won't know until later, but I assume any combo of 1, 3 and 5 are more plausible.

The stage and finishing climb simply weren't that great for him either way.

 

[zlev11]

he's still going to win. i got really worried with 3k to go that he was going to lose 1min+ but he recovered really nicely. there aren't any more climbs like this one in the race.

 

[skippo12]

Hasn´t looked good on longer efforts in the mountains since the crash. I guess there is still some hope that he can take advantage of his punch on shorter and steeper climbs.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Stephen A. Smith would say that whoever came up with this is on crack, and, tbh, it's hard to disagree with that thought.

"Blasphemy!"

 

[acm]

Anyone who has listened to him closely over the last few days knows that he is still suffering from the crash. RAI even mentioned today he has a sore knee, so it's not just stitches.
It's not over until it's over, vaiii Primoz!

 

[Red Rick]

I just watched the final 5km.

If you'd have told me at 3.5km he'd only lose 25 seconds I'd have laughed. Could have been a lot worse

 

[Netserk]

Kuss made a huge difference in that regard.

 

[zlev11]

Kuss made a huge difference in that regard.

yes and also Thomas kind of rode like an idiot, asking Almeida for pulls.

 

[Eeslliw]

he's still going to win. i got really worried with 3k to go that he was going to lose 1min+ but he recovered really nicely. there aren't any more climbs like this one in the race.

He didn't recover but rather Almeida and Geraint started to play some games as then stage win was for grabs (not too much to be honest, but it was obvious the pace drop a little bit). But he didn't blow-up which is good.

 

[Red Rick]

Kuss made a huge difference in that regard.

Kuss on a 3% gradient? Also no motorpacing

 

[Eeslliw]

yes and also Thomas kind of rode like an idiot, asking Almeida for pulls.

Why would he ride with Almeida on his wheel? From the moment Roglic got dropped, Almeida become the closest threat to Geraint . Roglic was out of equation.

 

[Eeslliw]

Being optimistic based on evidence from the history: Tokyo OG RR he was dropped early with some discomfort/pain (forgot what it was), couple of days later he destroyed everyone on hilly OG TT (more than a minute to 2nd). One can only wish .

 

[Carols]

Anyone who has listened to him closely over the last few days knows that he is still suffering from the crash. RAI even mentioned today he has a sore knee, so it's not just stitches.
It's not over until it's over, vaiii Primoz!

I've said this more than once. He's been hiding an injury. Now they all know and will take advantage At least tomorrow is a sprint stage.

 

[Rackham]

I've said this more than once. He's been hiding an injury. Now they all know and will take advantage At least tomorrow is a sprint stage.

The problem is the fact Jumbo paced for the stage. If Rog was hiding an injury, the tactics would have been completely different (if only to keep the pace down).

What happened was inexplicable tbh & I have no explanation. The team knows his condition more than anyone else, so there's some other reason this happened & it's something they didn't expect.

 

[bNator]

I’m afraid that means there is no other explanation than Roglic is just not good enough. If there was anything apparently wrong with him, if he had some sort of condition, TJV would be riding differently. They must have expected a completely different outcome of this stage.

It could be a bad day, permanent drop in form or other guys being better than anticipated. If it’s anything other than a bad day then Rogla has very little chance of winning this. Let’s hope it was a bad day then…

 

[Rackham]

I’m afraid that means there is no other explanation than Roglic is just not good enough. If there was anything apparently wrong with him, if he had some sort of condition, TJV would be riding differently. They must have expected a completely different outcome of this stage.

It could be a bad day, permanent drop in form or other guys being better than anticipated. If it’s anything other than a bad day then Rogla has very little chance of winning this. Let’s hope it was a bad day then…

If feels like Wout van Aert in the 2021 Worlds. Or Rogla himself in 2021 Lombardia when Pogacar attacked & he had absolutely zero response (& even got dropped on the final little wall by the rest of the chasing group behind Pog before sprinting back to 4th on the stage).

It's a bit disconcerting that this happens again & again (& like I said, not just exclusively to Roglič either within Jumbo).

 

[DNP-Old]

The problem is the fact Jumbo paced for the stage. If Rog was hiding an injury, the tactics would have been completely different (if only to keep the pace down).

Agree. Kuss' behaviour on the climb further confirms this, I think. If Roglic were out there riding injured or hindered, I think it would be probable for Kuss to pace the climb within Roglic' limit, as to send a signal to the opposition and create a false sense of control, when in actual fact you are just trying to limit losses. However, Kuss didn't start pacing until Almeida actually attacked for the first time.

 

[Netserk]

Agree. Kuss' behaviour on the climb further confirms this, I think. If Roglic were out there riding injured or hindered, I think it would be probable for Kuss to pace the climb within Roglic' limit, as to send a signal to the opposition and create a false sense of control, when in actual fact you are just trying to limit losses. However, Kuss didn't start pacing until Almeida actually attacked for the first time.

I think he would have done that if not for the brutal pace of Vine. I think Rogla would have lost more time if Kuss had to be used earlier.

 

[Carols]

The problem is the fact Jumbo paced for the stage. If Rog was hiding an injury, the tactics would have been completely different (if only to keep the pace down).

What happened was inexplicable tbh & I have no explanation. The team knows his condition more than anyone else, so there's some other reason this happened & it's something they didn't expect.

He may have thought he'd still be good enough or the team may have told him to just go for it anyway? The team had a 2 to 3 minute talk on the road and he just kept shaking his head No before they went to the front.
All I know is I've watched him on and off the bike at work and play and IMO he hasn't been happy since that crash.

 

[Rackham]

He may have thought he'd still be good enough or the team may have told him to just go for it anyway? The team had a 2 to 3 minute talk on the road and he just kept shaking his head No before they went to the front.
All I know is I've watched him on and off the bike at work and play and IMO he hasn't been happy since that crash.

He underperformed in both ITT's as well. I mean let's be real here, there's no way he should ship 40+ seconds to Evenepoel in that opening time trial. That was before the crash.

The reason I didn't pay any attention to that (& most commentators didn't either) is because Jumbo & Rog were always open about aiming for week 3. Well here are in week 3 & Jumbo just paced a stage (using up all the doms including monster pulls by Dennis, Oomen & Affini) & Rog got dropped by G Thomas & Almeida.

As I said, inexplicable. It's right up there with previous 'inexplicable' bad days like Lombardia 2021. I mean I'd be all in on believing the crash hurt him if not for the fact Jumbo just went & did what they did in the stage.

 

[vwpe]

roglic doing roglic things...choking when it matters.