• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

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

Page 42 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Stomach problems are in my opinion a reasonable explanation. Regarding climbing performance in the past few days. I wouldn't pin point that to lack of experience, minus nutrition, or mismanaging the peak. As stomach problems should be resolved now, likely we will see better climbing performance tomorrow. Timing basically being perfect.

Good luck tomorrow Primož. With good legs and a bit of luck pink jersey is still in reach. As for the best possible strategy. I guess Primož an his team now need to decide if full attack (possibly Manghen), saving some strength for TT or something in between makes the most sense. This will likely be impossible to plan ahead. The tactic will need to get adjusted during the tomorrows stage. Nibali will likely go for it (Manghen) and hopefully Roglič will be able to respond and Carapaz might struggle.
 
He fought like a lion today. He gave his all and was completely spent after the stage. Some fans who were there after the stage said that he is really hurting. Probably the chest pain because of the crash isn't as innocent as it seemed at first. In the last couple of stages he was going forward more with his heart and strong will than with his legs. He is clearly fading but I'm proud of him he managed to stay in podium contention till the end.

For tomorrow I'm not even confident he'll take those 23 seconds on Landa. If the ITT was in the 1st week, he probably takes 90 seconds. But after 10 days of hard battles in the mountains and after seeing him suffer in the last stages even those 23 seconds will be hard to get. Either way I'll be happy because I like Landa too, and he also deserves something from this Giro. But Landa has already been on the Giro podium so hopefully Rogla takes it :)

Also cycling popularity in Slovenia has been growing extremely fast over last couple years and Roglič is the main reason. He is a people's man, he likes the fans, he likes their attention and they like him. You could see in the last two stages there was half a nation there on the roads cheering for him. It's crazy.
 
Another thing. I really hope he doesn't go to the Tour. He'll be wasted there. I think there is a very small chance he'll be a factor in the GC race. I get that they want him to do TdF, because of the TTT, to help Kruijswijk and to possibly bring home a stage win. But now with De Plus quitting the Giro in the first week maybe he should replace him. In my opinion Rogla needs a long rest and then start a slow build up towards the Vuelta. He should do Tour of Poland as a warm-up race. We'll see. He always said the Giro is the main goal and then they'll see how he feels for the Tour. So I don't think it's a done deal for him being in France in July.
 
Hopefully Roglič will be able to secure the podium tomorrow. He for sure would deserve it.

As for some analysis. One mechanical failure until now is i guess reasonable, then again most of other GT favorites were able to avoid a single one until now. Two crashes are just too much. Second one contributed to ongoing chest pain and that makes situation much harder. If i compare the support Carapaz got from his team to the support Roglič had from his team in this years Giro. I guess it would be fair to say Roglič came alone to compete in the Giro. Stomach problem might have been avoidable with better nutrition strategy. This is therefore something to improve in the future. Roglič i guess needs to bring in another 10% on the mountains. His team needs to get serious and bring in another 90%. Realistically Roglič likely won't get a team compared to what Carapaz had on this Giro anytime soon, better strategy regarding nutrition, mechanical failures and avoiding crashes should be perused. For mountain stages two good climbers should be assigned to Roglič team. One is too risky, as we have seen this years. Due to illness of Gesink basically Roglič had no support when things were the hardest.
 
He should rest up for the Vuelta. If you weaken in the third week of the Giro you won't do anything in the Tour. If Landa was a better TT rider the podium might not look so doable for Roglic as the final TT is always effected by fatigue, but Roglic has enough pedigree in the TT to get the job done I think, even with tiring legs.
 
He rode a fantastic race if you ask me. I wasn't convinced he was made for the high mountains but he limited his losses very well. I don't think he's suited to the Giro climbs but at the same time it has been the only GT with a decent amount of time trials recently.

Hopefully he rests and rides the Vuelta. I don't think he'd much of a factor even in a supporting role at the Tour.
 
He partially lost the race after the abandon of De Plus and previously Gesink's Romandie abandon. I agree with you about him riding rhe Vuelta. I think Bennett, Gesink and De Plus will be enough support for Kruijswijk in the mountains and they also have Martin for the TTT plus I think that the Vuelta route suits Roglic a bit better than the Tour
 
Re:

bajbar said:
A podium and two stage wins. Not quite the win, the form and the team weren't quite there where it mattered most, but another step forward. If he keeps it up, the win will come eventually. But I am happy. :)

I share this view. It was a Giro with highs and lows for Primoz. After his second stage win, mistakes in team tactics/resources, lack of rider support, crashes and illness (and waning form) became great challenges to a podium finish. He definitely has the guts to compete for GC. A very hard-earned podium finish. Well done.
 
Re:

KZD said:
He partially lost the race after the abandon of De Plus and previously Gesink's Romandie abandon. I agree with you about him riding rhe Vuelta. I think Bennett, Gesink and De Plus will be enough support for Kruijswijk in the mountains and they also have Martin for the TTT plus I think that the Vuelta route suits Roglic a bit better than the Tour
All 3 of those climbers might even be a bit too much, they'll also have a world class sprinter on the Tour team.
Roglic peaked to early for a backloaded Giro, had no team and still limited his losses. They should let him rest and send him to the Vuelta.
 
In his interview he was quite happy, said he hasn't felt well, stomach issues, since the 'short stage'. That would be stage 14. So he really faced some adverse circumstances with lack of team support, physical issues, crashes and fading form. This lad has a GT win in him. This was his first try and I'm sure he learned a lot. Congrats Primoz on the well earned podium!! Now go get some rest.

When is his contract up? Anyone know?
 
IMO he should have won it. Bad tactical decisions, no rider support point squarely to the team. As a TT specialist with the TT coming early, the others were going to attack him and therefore the team was crucial. Depending on De Plus entirely and without making sure that the others were capable was an error. As soon as the road started to rise his team dropped like stones. Ultimately rabofail - : "How to lose a lead of 3+ minutes in the Giro" is a book that can be written by the support staff since they have now done it twice. And now all the climbers will go to the TDF for a top 5
 
Re:

Lequack said:
I read the team is confident he will extend with them because he could have the lead role in the TDF next year with a strong support team.
He is already under contract with Jumbo-Visma for next year and yes, the plan is to go allin for the Tour with him and a strong supporting team in 2020. Although I wouldn't mind if he chooses the Giro again if it suits him better.

Anyway, super happy he got 3rd. Even if he was 4th it wouldn't change much in my eyes but I know the general perception is way better with a podium place than another 4th place.

From a source close to him apparently the pain in his chest and ribs is much stronger than what he is telling the media. He's been really suffering since the crash and also because of the stomach issues. He has fought hard to achieve this 3rd place. Such a brave effort!

He won't be ready to ride the Tour. The team would be crazy to send him to France in July. Especially if you consider it'd be the first time in his career to do 2 GTs in a season. Giro-Tour combo would be te worst and hardest possible choice.
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
Reading between the lines from interviews with the DS it really does seem that Roglic was too good too early.

While the last week in the Giro did not suit him at all, he was way stronger in the 3rd week of the Tour last year.
I don't think so. Roglic's current season since UAE Tour till the end of the Giro is practically a photocopy of last year from Itzulia till the end of the TdF. Last year he won both Itzulia and Romandie, then he had one month and a half without racing (rest and altitude training). Next in line was Tour of Slovenia where he dominated. I'd argue he was actually in better form there than in Romandie this year.

The biggest difference IMO is that he was healthy in the 3rd week last year. Next, the bike change fiasco had bigger influence on the race than many think. It was an embarassing mistake from the team car. Imagine if it happened to Nibali lol. I watched his press-conference the next day and when a journalist mentioned that, he just facepalmed for a minute, laughed and couldn't say a word.

Next thing. Tour 2018 has nothing in common with Giro 2019. It was a walk in the park in comparison. Mortirolo, Manghen, San Carlo, Nivolet... Tour had nothing comparable. Not to mention the length of the stages. Giro had I think 6 stages of 220km or more, the Tour just one. If you add the horrible weather the riders were having for two weeks you get an extremly hard GT, way harder than last year's Tour.

Also, even though the ITTs obviously helped him, it didn't help that two of them were at the beginning. He was able to take big time on other contenders so he automatically became the point of reference in the race. With no team in the mountains it was very difficult to control every attack. It was very different last year at the Tour. He was no pre-race favourite there. He lost some time in the first week so nobody really cared about him at first. The race in France is obviously a lot more controled so he could just ride tempo and follow the Sky train and attack in the last couple of km.
 
Tactically i do feel they approached the Giro reasonably good. Roglič needed to start strong and had to control Nibali. He did just that. Losing Gesink and De Plus early on in the race is likely what turned out to be the biggest issue. You usually just can't win a GT without a good support team. Imagine Roglič would have been in pink at the last stage (before TT). That would be painful to watch. As a result of not being able to rely on the team, as much as initially planned, things like one mechanical failure and two crashes are much more likely to happen. This usually builds up additional pressure and results in more stress than under normal circumstances. This or bad nutrition, or a bit of both, likely in addition contributed to stomach issues and having no appetite in the last week. He could have peak a bit too early too. But that likely wouldn't result in such dramatic drop of performance.

In the end i am happy Roglič finished on podium. He has deserved it. In the future GT races i am sure that he will have more luck on the tactical side. I am looking forward to that. As for this years Tour, if Roglič will participate. If he will target stage wins or overall classification i don't know. I guess this could get decided during the Tour. If Roglič gets a chance, like the one Carapaz got on the Giro, he for sure will take it. If not, he will likely go after some stage wins and mature more in tactical, nutrition, managing peak ... areas, much needed for next year Tour.
 
Re: Re:

johnymax said:
Lequack said:
I read the team is confident he will extend with them because he could have the lead role in the TDF next year with a strong support team.
He is already under contract with Jumbo-Visma for next year and yes, the plan is to go allin for the Tour with him and a strong supporting team in 2020. Although I wouldn't mind if he chooses the Giro again if it suits him better.

Anyway, super happy he got 3rd. Even if he was 4th it wouldn't change much in my eyes but I know the general perception is way better with a podium place than another 4th place.

From a source close to him apparently the pain in his chest and ribs is much stronger than what he is telling the media. He's been really suffering since the crash and also because of the stomach issues. He has fought hard to achieve this 3rd place. Such a brave effort!

He won't be ready to ride the Tour. The team would be crazy to send him to France in July. Especially if you consider it'd be the first time in his career to do 2 GTs in a season. Giro-Tour combo would be te worst and hardest possible choice.

I really, really hope Jumbo reconsiders and saves Roglic for the Vuelta, this year. He's been through the heavy wash cycle in week 3 of the Giro. Banged up pretty good . . . did amazing to find the podium.
 
I don't know how fast Roglič will be able to recover, but if we rationalize a bit, indeed this was extremely hard Giro for him and as he will soon become a dad, before Tour. Not participating in this years Tour therefore likely does make much sense.Anyway, lets see how things evolve.
 
CyclistAbi said:
I don't know how fast Roglič will be able to recover, but if we rationalize a bit, indeed this was extremely hard Giro for him and as he will soon become a dad, before Tour. Not participating in this years Tour therefore likely does make much sense.Anyway, lets see how things evolve.
I really agree.

Honestly I wasn't convinced the Giro was even better than the Tour for him, but Giro/Tour is quite obviously the worst option of all 2 GT options. There's obviously less ITTs in the Tour but there's a TTT that should be superb for Jumbo-Visma, and the mountain stages in the Tour are decidedly easier.

Ineos behind behind in TTT+ITT would've been fun to see for once, but I don't think it will happen now.
 

TRENDING THREADS