Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) didn’t have his eyes firmly trained on the Tour de France route announcement this week, but not because he had let either the overwhelming dominance of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) or three years of DNF-inducing crashes get to him. It was simply that he had something far more important to do – celebrate his 35th birthday.
That may have been where his focus lay when Tour de France organisers announced that the 112th edition would include two time trials and six mountain finishes next year. However, the yellow jersey of the Tour de France was not off the radar, with the four-time Vuelta a España winner and 2020 Tour de France runner-up continuing to embrace the challenge of delivering a reason to celebrate in July.
"I always, obviously like to win," Roglič told a small group of reporters, including Cyclingnews, while in Japan ahead of the Saitama Tour de France criterium on Saturday when asked if he could still win the Tour de France. "But on the other hand, looking to the next season, trying to improve myself still here and there, on a couple of aspects and try to grow as a team.
"I think we should look at it like that. I mean, Tadej, where he is at the moment, he's really unbeatable, or hard to compete against. But you never know what next year brings," though on the flip side Roglič added, "maybe he's even ... better".
In 2024, the 26-year-old Pogačar added a third overall Tour de France title to his palmares along with a Giro d'Italia victory. Among his 25 UCI season wins was also Il Lombardia, six Tour and Giro stages each, Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the UCI Road World Championships, where Roglič was this time a team mate on the Slovenian squad. This record, and the racing nous and power he has displayed in securing it, means that he pretty much automatically hits the top of the favourites list whenever he is at a race.
Roglic pointed out that the form of the UAE Team Emirates rider, however, was an area where "we don't have influence" and that he and the team would instead focus on where they did.
"But looking to ourselves, if I can be the best version of myself, I can easily go with it," said Roglič.
It is too early, said the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider, to have set out his programme for 2025, though he did mention that the season starter of the Tour Down Under in January was out given he was still in off-season mode.
He did, once again joke, that perhaps the best way of dealing with the dominance of Pogačar was avoidance tactics – checking his programme for 2025 and then "I do the opposite," he said with a laugh. However he quickly added "no, no idea at all," in response to what his season ahead would look like. "Like I said, now still just fully in my off season, so I don't really actually want to think about [it] too much."
He will, however, be taking a taste of the Tour de France to an audience far from Paris on Saturday, where he is riding the 10th edition of the Saitama Criterium in Japan. Riders will complete 17 laps of a 3.6km course for a full length of 61.2km and Roglič will line up among a field that includes Tour de France green jersey winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), 2023 points champion Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and all-time Tour stage win record holder Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan).
