Tour de France: Primož Roglič’s run at GC takes a huge hit on stage 7

Primož Roglič’s run at the Tour de France yellow jersey may already be over.

On Friday’s stage 7 to Le Creusot, Roglič was dropped by the peloton on the climb to Signal d’Uchon, and the Slovenian never regained contact with the peloton, eventually ceding 9:03 to winner Matej Mohorič (UAE-Team Emirates) and 3:48 to Tadej Pogačar and the group of other top favorites.

Cameras caught sight of him riding slowly across the finish line alongside Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) and Simon Geschke (Cofidis) in 65h place.

Roglič tumbled 23 placings on GC, falling from 10th overall to 33rd, 9:11 down on GC leader Matheiu van der Poel and 5:32 down on Pogačar. Barring an amazing comeback, the Slovenian’s run at the yellow jersey appears to be over.

The disappointing ride comes four stages after Roglič hit the tarmac and slid across sharp gavel during the Tour’s chaotic third stage. Roglič lost time on the day and was later photographed covered in bandages. In interviews after the crash, Roglič said he did not know how his body would respond to the crash.

Roglič lost more time during the stage 5 individual time trial — an event where he has traditionally excelled.

Prior to stage 7 Roglič said he felt pain in his back and tailbone.

“I crashed pretty hard on my back and the ribs — this is the most annoying,” Roglič said on Friday morning. “It affects you everywhere. I’m not comfortable even if I do nothing and just sit on the bike, it’s not nice. It’s something I have to accept. But it’s going better and I’m optimistic, and we go.”

The peloton accelerated up the Signal d’Uchon after attacks by Pierre Latour and Richard Carapaz broke apart the bunch. The climb begins with an 18 percent ramp, and cameras caught sight of Roglič riding at the back of the group grimacing. After a few minutes he lost contact with the group entirely, and was left to chase the peloton on his own.

Whether or not Jumbo-Visma anticipated Roglič’s setback is not yet known. But when the Slovenian began to fade from the peloton, with 20km remaining, his teammates in the bunch remained with the other top favorites, instead of dropping back to pull.

Wout van Aert powered on ahead in one of the lead groups to finish 8th on the day and step into 2nd place overall. Steven Kruijswijk and Jonas Vingegaard continued with the top contenders to finish in the group. With van Aert unlikely to target the GC overall, Vingegaard may become the team’s GC rider for the remainder of the race.