After the slap of the last year, Primoz Roglic has “a revenge to take”

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From our special correspondent in Brest,

Primoz Roglic has a playful spirit. As a nod to the gesture of Paul Pogba, the Slovenian rider showed up this Thursday morning at a press conference with a can of beer from the Dutch brand that the French medium had dismissed. Very relaxed, the leader of the Jumbo-Visma team appeared in great shape two days before the big start of the Tour de France in Brest.

A race necessarily special for him and which obviously revives bad memories. While the champagne was already cold, the Slovenian had cracked during the time trial at the top of the Planche des Belles Filles last year and gave his yellow jersey to his compatriot Tadej Pogacar on the eve of the arrival at Paris. If his defeat seems to have been digested, Primoz Roglic nevertheless has a vengeful spirit. “I have of course a revenge to take compared to myself, he assured in video from his hotel. In any case, I am ready and I have full confidence in my teammates ”.

A modified preparation with two months without running

After the slap of last year, the Slovenian completely changed his plans this year before tackling the Tour, the goal of his season with the Tokyo Olympics. He had resumed his season late in Paris-Nice. In the midst of a flood, he had won three stages and put on the yellow jersey from the 4th stage. But bad luck had caught up with her again during the last stage where, victim of two falls, he had completely cracked and let the final victory slip away to the German Maximilien Schachmann. He then followed with a victory in the Tour du Pays-Basque before investigating the Ardennes classics and cutting after Liège-Bastone-Liège on April 25.

Since then, he has only eaten training unlike his rivals. “My approach has been different this year,” he explains. I spent more time in the mountains and I trained on my chrono bike because we saw last year how time trials could be decisive ”. After two months without running, the leader of the “bees” of the Jumbo arrives fresh and dapper on the Grande Boucle. And “it will be an advantage”, according to his team-mate Wout Van Aert, who will have carte blanche the first week to win a stage before supporting his leader when the road climbs.

The Jumbo Visma to hand control of the race to UAE

If Roglic has changed its preparation, his team has also revised its tactics and learned from the mistakes of last year, when it outrageously dominated the race with the end result that we know. “We did a good job of analyzing last year’s race where we ended up a bit short,” says climber Steven Kruijswijk. We will therefore adapt the tactics this year, we will have several ”.

In this game of poker, sporting director Merijn Merijn Zeeman showed his cards a little bit, assuring that they would leave the race to the UAE Team Emirates team of Tadej Pogacar, big favorite for a double. “We will be in a better position than last year, it might be easier for us,” he admits. But many formations are also at a better level like Ineos of course or Movistar ”. Or how, a classic in sport, to relieve the pressure on the opponents.





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