Former ski jumper Primoz Roglic has only been riding a bike for a few years but today he confirmed his big potential when he won the Tour de Slovenie overall.
"I was harder to fall asleep after my victory," he told Siol.net. "I did not realize what was happening around me. I was so cold that it took some time for me get back to my normal self and then I started to think about what had happened.
"Yesterday I said to myself that I have to try. When they caught me, I took a short breather, but I saw that they did not go much faster than me. I went with them. I was glad that I had [teammate] Rogina with me. When we started the sprint, I even saw that I could win and I did it.
"Today I was more tired. I felt a responsibility because I could not afford any mistakes because I was the holder of the yellow jersey. I enjoyed these moments.
"I'd be lying if I said it was not difficult. The closer we got to the end, the harder it was. The great things was that I was riding in the yellow and also won the Tour de Slovenie. I enjoyed those moments. The jersey was not compromised. I was thinking about staying focussed and not get any problems. With this crowd, I was flying.
"I knew that I was well prepared, but I did not want to predict the result because I did not know how the competition was.
"I was not bothered by the big names. Everyone have to do the same effort. I was in familiar terrain and the support has given me much more power. In Italy, I would probably not be able to show something like this.
"I cannot compare this with my success as a ski jumper. Each story has its own champer. But I'm very happy that I managed to achieve something in cycling. I will continue to work hard and I have gained further momentum for the future.
"I bought my first bike in 2012. Because of my ski jumper muscles, I had never been riding a lot. I had never imagined that I would get involved in cycling. I watched the Tour, the Giro and Lance Armstrong, how he won, but I was not thinking about doing it myself. I still miss a lot that other riders are used to. At every race I learn something new.
"I do not know how far I can come, we'll see. It is a great challenge. I work hard and I will continue to do so because only in this way I can get far. I know I'm late so I have to learn quickly.
"These good performances contribute to the fact that I start to think about joining a bigger team. But for the moment I am not worried about it. I will train and see where I end up."
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