Is Roglic past his prime?

[CyclistAbi]

I thought you'd thank me for consolidating all these posters into one place for you to pacify, educate, and enlighten.

Good point.

And lets not forget Rogla is in a very select group of riders that have beaten Pogi in a GT race, week long stage race, at a monument, at one day race event (and at the nationals). So yeah, prime or no prime, who cares.

Lets rather focus on winning an one day race event i the reminder of the season and all type of races in years to come!

 

[tobydawq]

, even at the Tour i am sure that Rogla will eventually beat both Pogi and Jonas.

You're hilarious.

 

[CyclistAbi]

You're hilarious.

Pun intended?

 

[Oldman]

Thread creator is one of the forum's a-tier Roglic fanboys though.

and the post count keeps climbing....

 

[Oldman]

Back in the day we had no rider threads, we only had individual threads for individual topics. It encouraged holistic discussion and discouraged cliques. There was relatively little fanboyism. One day people started making rider threads and it's all been downhill since then

Weirdest thing is, you were around to see that too

weird or disappointing or both. Wait...weird we're still alive and bike fans?

 

[Oldman]

Your lack of self awareness is shocking. Surely you know this forum serves us, not the riders.

The shock of your self assuredness will pass. But I do sense the humor in the response.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Roglic racing against time is more interesting than any of the other races on at the moment

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Roglic racing against time is more interesting than any of the other races on at the moment

No worries, the most interesting race is still ahead: Il Lombardia! Maybe Fausto will repeat his crazy Ganda descent and beat Pogi in the sprint this time.

 

[Unchained]

So when he actually won the World Championship?

The crazy thing about Valverde, is that in 2022, as a 42 year old, putting aside the 'Gran Camino' "stuff" and such, he did:

- 2° at Strade Bianche (and 1° was Pogi, so it doesn't really count)
- 2° at Flèche Wallonne
- 4° at Giro dell'Emilia
- 3° at Tre Valli Varesine (again: 1° was Pogi)
- 6° at Lombardia

As a 42 y.o. !!!

Results for Alejandro Valverde

Career results for Alejandro Valverde with filter options on distance, date, type of race and vertical meters.

www.procyclingstats.com

Imagine a normal rider, retiring after said results.

Maybe it's a coincidence.. But 2 riders I absolutely love Robert Gesink and Tony Martin, both finishing with Visma were able to finish their careers with great work on the bike and taking pressure off them as dedicated leaders, expected winners.

It's obvious that Primoz Roglic has a great attitude, guy is always positive, spring in his step, despite some often awful circumstances. I hope that Bora, Remco, Lipowitz can figure out a way to utilize an awesome racer like Roglic. I hope they don't buy into Primoz is a loser because he hasn't been there in grand tours and biggest races. Might be time to transition to different responsibilities.

 

[Ripper]

Maybe it's a coincidence.. But 2 riders I absolutely love Robert Gesink and Tony Martin, both finishing with Visma were able to finish their careers with great work on the bike and taking pressure off them as dedicated leaders, expected winners.

It's obvious that Primoz Roglic has a great attitude, guy is always positive, spring in his step, despite some often awful circumstances. I hope that Bora, Remco, Lipowitz can figure out a way to utilize an awesome racer like Roglic. I hope they don't buy into Primoz is a loser because he hasn't been there in grand tours and biggest races. Might be time to transition to different responsibilities.

Hopefully he (rogocop) agrees, because he is 100% past his prime.

Dude is so far past his prime he can't see it in the rear view mirror. He might have lost it on some ride 2-3 years ago, and now it is just off the side of the road, waiting for some unsuspecting passerby.

 

[Unchained]

Hopefully he (rogocop) agrees, because he is 100% past his prime.

Dude is so far past his prime he can't see it in the rear view mirror. He might have lost it on some ride 2-3 years ago, and now it is just off the side of the road, waiting for some unsuspecting passerby.

Roglic is a strange phenomenon.. When he is on his bike, fluid, smooth, measured.. and then he just keeps falling off his bike.. The definition of chronic crasher.
If I was advising him, go to weight room, skip all races over 10 days, stop with all the history lessons about being a premier climber and work on getting more top end and punch and spend his last years trying something, anything other than grand tours. He can still win just not 3 week GCs

 

[CyclistAbi]

Yeah, we really should be giving Rogla a crash course on how it is done.

 

[noob]

The only relevant parameter to measure yourself as an elite sportsman is your level relative to the opposition.

If analysing something it's a good idea to know what we're actually talking about. The illusion of "decline" (others has gotten better) or actual decline; (the rider perform worse than his previous self).

Spoiler

But of course if all we want to do is entertain ourselves since the races nowadays are so predictable we can always forego reality for amusement. 🤷

Spoiler

Listening to Dr Shane Littrell on Unsolicited advice also doesn't help my view on the discussion.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

The most obvious explanations that explain why he was very good last year and in this year’s Catalunya but then has fallen off in performance are crashes, infection, illness, and scheduling. The only people who have gotten better than peak GT Roglic are Pogacar and maybe Vingegaard. No, @noob, Lipowitz and Onley did not suddenly become better than Roglic, making him look bad. Reference the eye test, context, and the power data.

However, based on his lack of punch recently and his age, it is reasonable to think that he does not have the ceiling that he once had, and/or that his floor has also fallen so that he needs to get more things right to perform at his best vs. even in 2023 when he could roll in after offseason shoulder surgery with unshaven legs and beat Remco in a stage race.

 

[CyclistAbi]

From the 2025 season perspective i would say that the perception, some believing Rogla declined, is mostly fuelled by the fact UAE really levelled up and i am not just talking about Pogi here. Measurements based on stomp levels are a bit misplaced too, that is most of the races don't end up in reduced bunch sprints any more and even when they do RBH (as team) is long gone by the time stomp should be supported.

So all in all a bit of rediscovering and trying out some new approaches is now ongoing and overall it hasn't to do much with being in best shape of your life or not, that by itself doesn't matter much ATM. In addition the team needs to do better too, it's not like they figured it out already, on how to close the gap to UAE. UAE team members are winning day in day out, RBH are nowhere near that.

In regards to 2026 season i am sure that both Rogla and the team will figure something out, as for the remainder of the 2025 season, here Rogla will likely need to keep the onus on his individual quality and win an one day racing event based on everything he learned through the 2025 season. The form seems to be there to support it.

Going forward best to merge such discussion in Rogličes thread. We don't have a separate thread for discussing Remcos weight either and similar.

 

[proffate]

If you think Roglic didn't decline as much as competition increased then I guess you're also saying Roglic previously seemed good only because he had weak competition.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I don't believe Rogla is past his prime and i unfortunately can't vote for any option in the poll as there isn't an option available for Rogla is still No.1.

That’s why there’s other as an option.

 

[Gargamel35]

I don't think Roglič declined that badly, but it's obvious he can't stay in super shape all year long like he did years ago. He probably has one really good peak per year now and the rest is just mediocre (for his standards).

He could easily have a top5 result in this years Tour (a GT, where everybody come super prepared) if he would care for it. And he even wasn't in top possible shape, because of Giro in his legs, crashes and illness.

He should try and peak for only one GT (or 1 week race, forget monuments) per year and go for it. If he arrives in great shape, he can still fight for top 5 or top 3 place, maybe even for a win if stars align. He shouldn't go for 2 GT's per year any more, he shouldn't crash or get ill. So many ifs again. But that's Roglič.

 

[noob]

If you think Roglic didn't decline as much as competition increased then I guess you're also saying Roglic previously seemed good only because he had weak competition.

In comparison to today's field they all had weaker competition, no?

 

[proffate]

In comparison to today's field they all had weaker competition, no?

Sure, we live in a time of outstanding performances. I wonder if this will ebb, or if technology (power meters, virtual cycling, 3d printed saddles, sports science etc) has just leveled up. If the latter, then we really will have to judge each rider only against their contemporaries.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

What I'm confused by in this discussion is that Roglic has been part of that raising of standards. He wasn't Egan Bernal who won before and now supposedly puts up the same numbers and doesn't win. He has won GTs in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024. He has won big 7 one-week stage races I believe every year since 2018. Sure, Tadej is better than anyone previously and makes everyone else look worse, but I'd say that's it. Remco in ITT. But saying he just looks worse because everyone else got better is odd given that he just won the Vuelta in 2024 and Catalunya this year.

 

[noob]

Sure, we live in a time of outstanding performances. I wonder if this will ebb, or if technology (power meters, virtual cycling, 3d printed saddles, sports science etc) has just leveled up. If the latter, then we really will have to judge each rider only against their contemporaries.

I guess we will know in a couple of years. Or 10 - 15 years.

 

[CyclistAbi]

If you think Roglic didn't decline as much as competition increased then I guess you're also saying Roglic previously seemed good only because he had weak competition.

There where attempts in the past to pin that on Rogla but as history teaches us Rogla is still basically the only rider that has beaten Pogi in all types of races. Said that it's clear that UAE levelled up, nearing 100 wins this season. Saying that IMHO isn't the same as saying the competition before was weak. It says that there is something specific about UAE that other teams need to catch up. Or not, as likely this was peak UAE anyway and they won't be able to carry that in the next season(s).

I don't think Roglič declined that badly, but it's obvious he can't stay in super shape all year long like he did years ago. He probably has one really good peak per year now and the rest is just mediocre (for his standards).

I fell that Rogla has been in reasonable shape through the whole season, still is.

 

[Gargamel35]

There where attempts in the past to pin that on Rogla but as history teaches us Rogla is still basically the only rider that has beaten Pogi in all types of races. Said that it's clear that UAE levelled up, nearing 100 wins this season. Saying that IMHO isn't the same as saying the competition before was weak. It says that there is something specific about UAE that other teams need to catch up. Or not, as likely this was peak UAE anyway and they won't be able to carry that in the next season(s).



I fell that Rogla has been in reasonable shape through the whole season, still is.

Sure, but reasonable isn't the same as super shape, through a whole year, like i said.

 

[tigabara]

I choose others. "Others" here isn't a choice or a reason, but rather a question: is there really a need for a dedicated thread on this issue? Isn't it enough to discuss it in Primoz Roglic's thread?