[ad_1]
The Jumbo Visma captain lost the Tour de France after ten days as the overall leader in the final time trial. This is how the accident happened to Primoz Roglic.
Primoz Roglic loses the leader’s yellow jersey on the penultimate day of the Tour de France.
Photo: ASO / Alex Broadway
In the end, he sat on the floor for long minutes, speechless, stunned. As sovereign leader, Primoz Roglic started the time trial of the penultimate stage of the Tour de France. He crossed the finish line like a second bad shake. He had no real reasons for his very average performance, which made it possible for him to topple at the top of the rankings, even later, when it was supposed to be explained to the media. Or he just didn’t want to reveal them in public. Perhaps because the shortcomings of this list hurt a lot.
Arrogant Tactics by Jumbo-Vismas
The same picture for three weeks: Jumbo-Visma crushes the race with its permanent presence at the top.
Photo: Getty Images
They dominated the Tour de l’Ain. They determined the Critérium du Dauphiné. Why should this tactic change at the Tour de France? The Jumbo-Visma team came up with a cast that all the other team leaders had to be jealous of. Because the Dutch really put their all into the tour, Roglic had noble aides at his side with Tom Dumoulin and Wout Van Aert, who would land a leading role on each team.
Correspondingly dominant, if not almost arrogant, Jumbo-Visma negated the stages, leaving barely room for the attacker to develop. Solo: other than the stage wins that Van Aert raced, very few looked on with this personal superiority. For example, the competition could very well have been forced to act with early attacks from Dumoulin or climber Sepp Kuss.
The rare attacks
Too rare a picture: Roglic wins the first mountain finish of the course at Orcières-Merlette in a sprint.
Photo: Getty Images
Several times it seemed that everything was settled for Roglic: his team had completely reduced the group of favorites with their speed on the mountain, according to the known scheme of Team Sky / Ineos. In the case of the British, the last stage was the attack of their leader, with which Wiggins, Froome and Thomas each obtained the decisive advantage for their victories. In Roglic it was waited in vain. Instead, he relied on his sprint and the extra seconds that come with it. However, that didn’t always work out either. He won the first mountain final, twice he was defeated by Tadej Pogacar.
Pogacar underrated as an opponent
My friend, my best enemy: Pogacar was underestimated by Roglic because they are friends?
Photo: ASO / Alex Broadway
Before the tour, discussions revolved around three names: Roglic, Egan Bernal, and Thibaut Pinot. The latter two had fought a thrilling duel for the Tour victory last year and have now been classified as favorites again, along with the Slovenian.
Consequently, there was a certain void in this race when it soon became clear that neither Pinot (after his crash in Stage 1) nor Bernal (due to poor form) were real opponents. Should this 21-year-old Tour rookie really be the toughest challenger? Even though you had to get by with virtually no help from your UAE-Emirates team? It is human somewhere that Jumbo-Visma Pogacar might not have been rated as dangerous as a competitor.
Also, he and Roglic are friends, so Pogacar is not really suitable as an “enemy image”.
The lessons of the 2019 Giro?
Last week’s crash: Roglic on stage 16 of the 2019 Giro d’Italia, where he lost 1:22 to leader Carapaz.
Photo: Getty Images
In the spring of 2019, Roglic won the Tour of the United Arab Emirates, then the Tirreno-Adriatico and then the Tour de Romandie. He traveled undefeated to the Giro d’Italia, as the top favorite. For two weeks he drove in accordance with this state, winning both time trials and wasting no time anywhere. But he focused solely on Vincenzo Nibali, and did not realize that Richard Carapaz was his new opponent. In the third week he lost a lot of time, it was not until the last time trial that he at least saved the podium.
In 2020 history will repeat itself: an exceptional Roglic in the making. A strong one in the first two thirds of the tour. And a clear drop in shape towards the end. The Jumbo Visma trainers must explain themselves about the training structure of their leader.
The underrated key stage
On the way to La Planche Des Belles Filles: the new time trial helmet has slipped down Roglic’s neck.
Photo: Getty Images
After the 15th stage and the renewed Roglic-Pogacar duel at the Grand Colombier, the first questions about the time trial continued on the penultimate day. Roglic replied very vaguely. “Every track is better than a deficit,” he said laconically.
He also did not want to discuss a possible change from time trial to racing bike, “I will decide during the pre-stage inspection.” Pogacar was much more advanced: his team had defined the time trial until La Planche des Belles Filles as a key stage and saw it with the pilot beforehand.
In the race, Roglic wore a new time trial helmet for the first time, which apparently didn’t fit him well. “Let’s stop discussing the material,” was all he said.
Unnecessary fussiness in the team
Roglic on the ascent to the mountain arriving at Col de la Loze. At the top of the finish line, a dispute should develop after the stage.
Photo: Getty Images
The queen stage to Col de la Loze was a good day for Roglic: he was 17 seconds ahead of Pogacar. But in the end there were problems. The UCI stewards wanted to check his bicycle, a regular procedure since the accusation that there was “mechanical doping” in the peloton. But the team mechanic who should have unscrewed the crank to check the frame had already walked into the valley. So the UCI mechanic helped out and, according to Jumbo-Visma, damaged the crank and handlebar.
Sporting director Merijn Zeeman attacked the stewards in such a way that they withdrew his tour accreditation. He of all people, who is considered the brain of the team, on the crucial days of the race.
At the same time, the story leaves an aftertaste. The UCI made it clear that there was nothing to complain about Roglic’s bike. But Zeeman’s outburst brought to mind another story: In 2016, the French television network France 2 filmed a report on a possible “mechanical doping” in a bicycle race with a thermal camera. Among other things, the following was noted: the rear wheel of Primoz Roglic. But no more was ever known.
