Primoz Roglič is 35 going on 25 and spritely enough to stomp with Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France.
At least, that’s what Team Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe believes.
Roglič’s budding super squad rides into 2025 with full faith its veteran leader can live up to his billing as one of the “bigs” of grand tour racing.
“Primož can still be there with Pogačar and Evenepoel. If we get his build-up and preparation right, why can’t he?” Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe head of performance Dan Lorang told Velo.
“We see Primož’s numbers are as good as ever, improving even,” Lorang said.
Bora-Bull believes Roglič’s late start to cycling affords him the headroom to keep brawling with 26-year-old Pogačar and the rest of the “Big 4.”
“Primož’s age doesn’t really mean anything,” Lorang said in a recent call. “He’s eight, ten years older than Pogačar and those guys, but as a cyclist, he’s the same.
“He’s probably been on a bike the same amount of time as them, and that plays a big role,” Lorang said. “We’re not seeing ‘age’ impact Primož like other athletes.”
Roglič famously converted from ski jumping in his early 20s. His career as a bike racer barely got started until he was nudging on 24.
That’s how old Roglič’s rising rival Remco Evenepoel is right now.
“It’s about how much space there still is for development,” Lorang said. “Because Primož is so ‘young’ in cycling he’s not reached his ceiling. There’s still room for him to develop, just like there is for Evenepoel, Pogačar.
“We believe he can still even get better,” Lorang continued. “We see that in his numbers, and that keeps us confident about the future.”
Roglič under pressure in the Pogačar era: ‘It’s a challenge for us older guys’
Red Bull believes Roglič is “young” enough in cycling years to win the Tour de France.
That’s why the grizzled Slovenian last winter became the center of the energy drink giant’s bold entry into pro cycling and its mission to win the Tour.
Roglič sometimes doesn’t sound so confident.
He’s not shy in saying “modern cycling” isn’t so kind to the peloton’s elder statesmen.
“It’s a completely different way of thinking, a completely different way of racing,” Roglič said earlier this month at the Saitama Criterium. “It’s a challenge for all of us older guys that still try to achieve good results.”
Pogačar is almost one-leggedly reshaping modern bike racing with long-range attacks that threaten the bunch into action at kilometer zero.
“It’s a challenge for me to be going with the steps of the younger generation, to try to adapt to this style of racing,” Roglič said at Saitama.
Time waits for nobody in elite sport.
Aerobic capacity can grow until the early 40s, but other performance and recovery parameters inevitably decline.
The brakes are being squeezed on Roglič’s potential just when the dynamics of pro cycling are changing into a bigger sprocket.
Lorang draws some faith from his background training world-topping iron-distance triathletes Jan Frodeno and Anne Haug, who were breaking course records and harvesting huge wins deep into their 30s.
“Some think it’s a disadvantage to be getting older and not recovering so well. My experience in other sports disproves that. I’ve seen athletes bringing their best performances even in the late 30s,” he said.
“I know Primož can be the same.”
Rebounding from ‘the big disaster’ 2024 Tour
Pro cycling is changing, and this season showed it.
Climbing speeds and power outputs are higher than ever before.
Before he crashed out of this summer’s Tour de France, Roglič looked a half-wheel behind that history-making form of Pogačar, Evenepoel, and former teammate Jonas Vingegaard.
Sure, he went on to wrestle salvation from the season with a record-equalling fourth red jersey at the Vuelta a España. But there’s no hiding Red Bull’s rojo is asterisked by “in the absence of Pogačar, Evenepoel, and Vingegaard.”
Lorang sees Roglič’s “from the ashes” victory as a start point.
“The Tour was the biggest disaster for our whole team, not just for Primož,” Lorang told Velo. “Everybody put in 120 percent but the results were zero.
“The crash really affected Primož mentally and physically. That’s why it was so impressive how he came back in the Vuelta,” Lorang said.
“Everyone came home from Spain exhausted but motivated. It was a crucial result for us. It showed what’s possible for us and Red Bull next year and beyond.”
The Vuelta a España was a first step.
But the Tour de France is what enticed Red Bull into cycling.
Le Tour is also Roglič’s kryptonite. He was denied by Pogačar on the penultimate stage in 2020 and failed to finish his past three starts.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe hasn’t confirmed any schedules, but 2025 offers the chance at Tour de France redemption.
Old Rog, new tricks?
Roglič and his long-time trainer Marc Lamberts are smoothing out the kinks in the rider’s armor ahead of a fresh round of grand tour battles.
Rogla is known to suffer on the multi-mountain “queen stages” where the huge durability of Vingegaard and Pogačar seals their multi-minute marquee wins.
It’s a deficit that could derail Bora-Bull’s Tour de France chances.
“Primož and his coach have been looking at this since when he was at Jumbo-Visma,” Lorang said of the issue.
“They recognized it had to be improved for him to be competitive in the grand tours. They’ve been working on that ever since and we can see in the data that has improved,” Lorang said.
“I would say Primož is a much more complete rider now,” he continued. “But of course, the others also developed. In the end, the question will be where everyone is at the start of a grand tour and if they can be better at the end of it.”
Lorang and the Red Bull performance crew will sketch out Roglič’s early season program during their winter camp next month.
Big changes could be afoot.
Lorang talked of tweaking Roglič’s race program and altitude schedule to ensure he’s roaring hot for the Lille grand départ.
But whatever the approach, you can bet the ambition and end goal will be the same.
“If we can get everything right for Primož, if he stays safe and healthy early on, we see no reason why he can’t compete with those guys for the podium, or even to win, at the Tour,” Lorang said.
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