“Enormous handicap” to Roglič’s training helped lose him Tour, says Jumbo Visma

Primož Roglič looked uncharacteristically under pressure on his TT bike during the penultimate stage of last year's Tour, when he lost the yellow jersey. And now his team has blamed his inability to train on the TT bike for three weeks before the Tour, meaning a six-week break from the TT machine by the time he rode the La Planche des Belles Filles test

The lead member of coaching staff at Jumbo Visma has said Primož Roglič was unable to train on his TT bike for three weeks before last year’s Tour, meaning he hadn’t been on his TT bike for six weeks by the time the race reached the infamous La Planche des Belles Filles test.

On the penultimate day of racing, Roglič put in an underwhelming performance in the TT while his rival Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) but in a brilliant ride to win the stage.

That victory on the day saw Pogačar taken the yellow jersey from his fellow Slovenian, Roglič, with just the final stage into Paris awaiting the riders the next day.

Roglič looked very uncomfortable during the TT, with his
cadence not his usual rate and even the manner he sat on the bike suggesting he
was unhappy and under pressure.

Advertisement
Related News

And now Jumbo-Visma’s head of performance, Mathieu Heijboer, has said that after Roglič crashed at Critérium du Dauphiné last year his lingering injuries meant he did not train on his TT bike, with a more severe and uncomfortable position, in the three weeks before the Tour.

Mathieu Heijboer (left) is a former pro rider and is now head of performance at Jumbo Visma. He said Roglic was badly hampered in the build up to last year's Tour and paid a big price

"No fundamental mistake was made," Heijboer told L’Équipe of the approach to last year’s Tour and to the penultimate stage, where the overall victory was so spectacularly lost.

"Primož had fallen heavily at the Dauphiné which totally deprived him of training on his time trial bike before the Tour de France. By the morning of the La Planche TT it had been six weeks since he had been on his (TT) bike. That’s an enormous handicap."

However, he added the 58km of TT riding on the route of
this year’s Tour was very attractive to the team and to Roglič, who was now
training several times a week on the TT bike and who had already ridden the
Tour’s TT stage routes.

"He’s going to do a lot of training rides on his
time trial bike, a minimum of two to three rides per week with somebody with him
to correct his position," Heijboer explained, adding that would continued
at the upcoming altitude camp. "There are some very suitable roads in
Spain and in Tignes too; in the valley."

Topics
frontpage

Related News