Primož Roglič: I can share Tour de France green, yellow jersey ambitions with Wout van Aert
Roglič continues to believe he can win the yellow jersey, happy for van Aert to hunt green in 2022: 'Anything is possible'
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
Primož Roglič believes he doesn’t have to be the only Jumbo-Visma rider wearing a leader’s jersey at next year’s Tour de France.
Speaking with Het Laatste Nieuws this weekend, the Slovenian supremo said it’s possible to balance his eternal quest for the Tour’s yellow jersey with Wout van Aert‘s rising ambition to score the green of points classification.
“Anything is possible. We can get green and yellow – and the polka dot jersey for Sepp Kuss – but we have to determine what our main goal is, and then we have to make a plan that works for the two of us,” Roglič said.
Also read:
- Van Aert has green jersey dreams for the Tour
- Roglič, Pogačar to face all-new challenge at 2022 Tour
It’s near-unknown for one team to battle on both fronts at the Tour.
Van Aert’s recent decision to hunt for the green jersey next summer could have been seen as a wrench in Jumbo-Visma’s ambition to unseat Tadej Pogačar from his yellow throne.
The Belgian champ can pull deep into the mountains, hustle over the cobbles, and push wind everywhere else – he’s the all-terrain superdomestique Ineos or UAE-Emirates would dream of.
Roglič has no beef with his wingman going wandering, as long as he’s there when it counts.
“It must be the intention that Wout and I help each other,” Roglič told the Belgian daily. “We have to find a way so he can go for a stage win and I can try to get some time at the same time. We have to think about that carefully.”
Despite two frustrating ends to his past two Tours, Roglič isn’t ready to give up on it just yet.
At 32 years old and as a relative newbie to the cycling world, the Slovenian still has years left in his legs, and his resilience is just a part of his armory as his huge TT engine and fierce finishing kick.
“I definitely want to win the Tour and I believe I can,” he said.
“But I don’t need to be remembered as the rider who won or didn’t win the Tour. I’d rather people think of me as the man who fought for it every time, the man who gave the best of himself every race. That’s who I want to be. A fighter. The Tour is really not an obsession. So it’s not frustrating that it hasn’t worked yet.”