Primoz Roglic has said that he does not envisage problems between Jumbo-Visma’s triumvirate of leaders at the postponed Tour de France, which is scheduled for August 29-September 20.
The Slovenian is due to lead Jumbo-Visma in France alongside previous podium finishers Tom Dumoulin and Steven Kruijswijk. In an interview with Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, Roglic said that the trio could dovetail their efforts at the Tour with the strongest emerging as the leader.
“I think it’s quite simple: we want to win the Tour with the team and the best one will win at the end,” Roglic said. “It’s always an honest race, I think especially three-week races [are], so yeah, I’m looking forward to this, to starting and being there.”
Roglic has yet to race in 2020 as the competition was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic before he had the opportunity to make his seasonal debut. The season is due to resume in August.
“It’s like starting now after the winter break,” Roglic said. “Everybody hasn’t raced for a while, and I didn’t even start racing this year at all so I think it will be quite interesting for all of us to be all together and racing again.”
The running of the Tour de France will ultimately depend on the decision of the French government and if the race does go ahead, it remains to be seen if spectators will be permitted on the roadside.
“For me, hopefully there is a race,” Roglic said. “In the end, I have no influence on if it’s with a public or without a public or whatever. In the end, we are hoping for the public and a normal race. I think all the people give an extra energy. But at the moment, you don’t hope for everything, you have to happy already if there is a race.”
Roglic finished 4th overall on his last appearance at the Tour in 2018, but he skipped the race last year in favour of riding the Giro d’Italia, where he placed third, and the Vuelta a España, where he claimed final overall victory.
The 2020 Vuelta has been postponed and rescheduled for October 20-November 8, but Roglic said that he has not yet decided on his plans after the Tour de France.
“I don’t know, everything is possible after the Tour but it’s just hard at the moment to plan anything,” Roglic said. “First of all, I want to prepare for the Tour and then we’ll see.”
Roglic is due to build towards the Tour with an altitude camp in July, followed by participation in the Tour de l’Ain (August 7-9) and the Critérium du Dauphiné (August 12-16). The Slovenian said that all contenders will “start from zero” in Nice and was succinct when asked how to beat defending champion Egan Bernal (Ineos).
“By trying to be better than he is,” Roglic said. “We will see, I don’t know. If will definitely be a crazy race. It’s not a usual start for the Tour with some big mountains and decisive moment from the beginning. We will see how it goes.”
