Former ski jumper Primoz Roglic (Adria Mobil) confirmed that he is one of the biggest climbing talents in the world when he won the queen stage in his home race, the Tour de Slovenie. The local hero attacked 4km from the summit of the final climb and managed to hold off Mikel Nieve (Sky) and Radoslav Rogina (Adria Mobil) to take both the stage win and the overall lead.
25-year-old Primoz Roglic is a former ski jumper and only got introduced into cycling a few years ago. However, he has quickly proved his big potential as a good climber riding for the small Adria Mobil team.
Last year he took a big win in a stage of the Tour d’Azerbaijan, finished third overall in the Sibiu Cycling Tour and won the Croatia-Slovenia one-day race. He also showed his potential in his home race Tour de Slovenie where he rode very aggressively.
This year he has been unstoppable and has clearly upped his level significantly. He was second overall in the Tour of Croatia and won both a stage and the overall at the Tour d’Azerbaijan.
That made him one to watch as he returned to the Tour de Slovenie as one of the local heroes and today he confirmed his huge potential when he beat the stars in the queen stage. Despite being up against riders like Mikel Nieve and Giro d’Italia stage winners Diego Ulissi and Jan Polanc, he was in a class of his own in the big mountaintop finish.
"I was cold," he said. "Because I was so cold, I wanted to attack. I thought I would die. On the bike I was shaking. I did not think that it would be so difficult. In the downhill I could only use four fingers.
"I said to myself that I have should give my maximum because I had had so great support and was on home road. Because of this, I had 20 percent extra power.
"When they [Nieve and Rogina] caught me, I took a short breather but I saw that they were not riding much faster. I went with them. I was glad that Rogina was also there . When we started the strint, I even realized that I could win. I am extremely happy.
"I could have waited to the end of this stage. This success is proof for me that I'm doing well and I'm going in the right direction. I am looking forward to the future."
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