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At the top when things get serious: The “yellows” of the Jumbo-Visma team with the leader of the general Primoz Roglic in fourth position. Image: www.imago-images.de
His team boss reveals what made the Tour leader Roglic so strong
The goal in Paris is already close, but the Tour de France is not decided. A duel between Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar is expected in the Alps in the coming days. The fact that they both come from little Slovenia causes frowns in some places.
The Tour de France enters the decisive last week. The battle for the overall victory seems to have degenerated into a Slovenian championship. The 15 stages so far have given the impression that only 21-year-old Tadej Pogacar can keep overall leader Primoz Roglic from his first win in the world’s most important cycling race. Roglic is currently 40 seconds ahead of his talented compatriot. Last year Roglic won the Tour of Spain, Pogacar was third.
Every cycling fan knows the history of the Roglic change for a long time. He was once a ski jumper and became a junior world champion with the Slovenian team. At age 22 he finished this race due to lack of progress and a serious fall and started as a cyclist.
Not just uphill: As a former ski jumper, Primoz Roglic is not afraid of high speed. Image: keystone
“We knew he had the potential to win the tour”
This background still benefits Roglic, believes his team leader Richard Plugge. “Primoz is really trainable,” says the Dutchman in NZZ. “Every detail counts in ski jumping. It is extremely important whether or not you crouch one millimeter when you run. If you tell him to feel a little deeper on his time trial bike, he will do it right away. And he also understands why when you explain it to him. ”
His former performance diagnostician is also convinced that training as a ski jumper has left traces that can still be seen today. “We must not forget that he has trained strength and explosiveness all his life. That is his main quality, “Radoje Milic emphasized to” Deutschlandfunk. “In addition, Roglic was totally committed to the sport:” He is an ascetic. “
Plugge describes Roglic as a highly professional athlete who thinks a lot about those details. After initial testing, his team saw a great champion at Roglic in 2015: “He has a great engine. We saw incredible talent. We knew he had the potential to win the Tour de France. Maybe there are ten drivers who can do that. “
Team Leader Richard Plugge took over the Rabobank team in late 2012. Image: www.imago-images.de
Roglic not only distinguishes the “big engine”, that is to say, the pure power. It’s also remarkable how the 30-year-old sits on the time trial bike, Plugge enthuses. “He’s very streamlined as a person. When you lean on the handlebars, your back is really flat. That saves you a lot of energy. “
Question mark: as always when a driver is outstanding
In the first two weeks of the Tour de France, Primoz Roglic has shown no weakness and his team looks extremely strong. The symbol of this is what happened on Sunday. Wout van Aert, who had won two stages in this year’s massive sprint, fell back on the last mountain after working hard and was able to easily keep up with Egan Bernal. The Colombian, who started as defending champion, lost all opportunities to shine again this year with the Jaune de Paris jersey. His values are really good, Bernal was amazed, but if Roglic and Pogacar were competing, he would have the feeling that he could hardly follow them anymore.
Pogacar (left) says of Roglic: “We are friends, I admire him. But if I have a chance to win, then I want to use it. “ Image: keystone
It goes without saying that such dominance of cycling seems suspicious to some, so now the two Slovenians must justify their achievements. “There is nothing to hide,” Roglic said Sunday when asked about doping. “Only today I had two check-ups, the first shortly after six in the morning and the second after the stage.”
The world cycling association UCI announced last year that it would closely follow Slovenian cycling. Many drivers had recently been discovered as doping offenders. When the trial against doping doctor Mark Schmidt (“Operation Aderlass”) starts tomorrow in Munich, then one could also talk about Slovenian racing cyclists.
Hard work during the confinement is the key to success
Jumbo-Visma is considered a team whose drivers consume external ketones. Substances arise when the body can no longer burn carbohydrates and the body begins to burn fat. Ketones are said to increase performance, and are currently still legal, but controversial. Because very little is known about the health consequences of consumption. Those who take them may be playing a risky game.
Roglic team leader Richard Plugge said of ketones last year: “You can use them as vitamins.” Naturally, he rejects doping. He attributes his team’s superiority to skillful work during Corona’s forced layoff. “We have formulated the goal of collectively coming out of this phase with more force than we entered,” he says. The goal was to avoid infections and train well. “There were also a lot of small optimizations in various areas. We worked hard during this time when other teams weren’t equally active. That makes a big difference. “
It sounds banal, but it’s important – don’t forget to drink enough, even in stressful racing situations. Image: www.imago-images.de
An example of what Jumbo-Visma could do better than others is nutrition. It’s a balancing act for a cyclist to maintain the correct weight, says Plugge: “Or the cyclists eat too much and have to drag an unnecessary kilogram down the mountain. Or they eat very little, often because they are tired and weak “. Because each body is different, each driver receives personalized menus. The team had the help of the expert who also advises FC Barcelona.” The diet is really a an important part of our success, “emphasizes Plugge.
Do you eat better to outrun your opponents? For critics of cycling, this explanation is unlikely to lead to a change of mind. Rather, they refer to events such as the fact that this year a 2003 record was broken at the Col de Peyresourde, a time when the tour was contaminated with doping. Plugge says no, he says that cycling has become much more professional than any other sport: “17 years is a long time. Bicycles have been developed, work has been done on rolling resistance, on tires. Everything is discussed scientifically. “In addition, the drivers had a tailwind this year.
Challenger Pogacar wants to keep attacking
There are six stages left in the 2020 Tour de France, and the leader is rarely attacked in the last one. So there are still five chances for Tadej Pogacar to hit the big shot. The downside to this is that he is a lone fighter. His UAE-Emirates team is too weak after the failure of the two nominally stronger assistants, Fabio Aru and Davide Formolo.
However, Pogacar promises to make life difficult for his compatriot Roglic: “The fight for yellow is not over yet.” He attaches the greatest importance to the final ascent of tomorrow Wednesday, when it comes to Col de la Loze. An average slope of 7.8 percent awaits drivers along 21.5 kilometers, the destination being 2304 meters above sea level. Pogacar visited the mountain before the Tour de France and says: “On a bad day you can lose half an hour there.”
He was probably referring to himself and wanted to warn against too high expectations. What Tadej Pogacar didn’t say, but he certainly thought: Even opponent Primoz Roglic can have a bad day. Even if little or nothing has indicated it in the last two weeks, the Tour de France is not yet decided.
