Primož Roglič has abandoned the Tour de France before today’s stage 15 as he is still suffering the impact of injuries he sustained earlier in the race. The move means Jumbo Visma’s team leader, and Tour yellow jersey, Jonas Vingegaard will be without his experienced and strong team mate for the final week of the race.
However, his main rival for the yellow jersey, Tadej Pogačar, has already lost several of his UAE Team Emirates team mates, including key climber George Bennett, to Covid-19.
Roglič’s withdrawal from the Tour is the second time in two years he has been forced out after sustaining crash injuries. In this year’s race he came down very heavily on stage 5, which raced over the cobbles of northern France.
A TV moto clipped a safety bail, nudging it out into the road, with a number of riders hitting it as they exited a roundabout. Roglič dislocated his shoulder put popped it back in himself and spent the remaining 30km of the stage chasing back on.
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However, he lost over two minutes to the main GC riders, putting a massive dent in his designs on the yellow jersey. That time loss did not stop him combining very well with Vingegaard on stage 11 to Col du Granon.
Jumbo Visma – with Vingegaard and Roglič as main protagonists – put Pogačar under extreme pressure with over two hours of racing remaining. And when the leaders reached the tough final climb Vingegaard was able to drop all of his rivals and take the stage win and yellow jersey. He now leads the race by 2:22 from Pogačar.
In a brief message about his departure from the race, Roglič pointed to his role in helping to bring about the current general classification standings.
“I’m proud of my contribution to the current standings and I trust that the team will realise our yellow and green ambitions. Thanks to everybody for your great support,” Roglič said.
He is now expected to have a period of recovery before he will once again build up towards La Vuelta, which he has won for the last three years.
