Primoz Roglic is one of the best cyclists in the past several years, and undoubtedly the best in the last two. However, he would suffer a disastrous campaign at the 2020 Tour de France.
Last year's competition was pretty unusual. First, the entire organization was much different than before, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the organizers and the participants had to make various adjustments, but everything worked out eventually.
The race itself had a thrilling finish, seeing Roglic losing first place in the penultimate stage, making this Tour de France one of the most dramatic in the past years. He allowed his compatriot from Slovenia, Tadej Pogacar, to take over the lead and finish as the winner. It was a massive sensation having in mind how everything developed because Roglic stood as one of the top favorites before and especially during the race.
According to betting odds for cycling events in 2021, Roglic will be once again among the top candidates for winning the Tour. He is currently second on the list, and his win is priced at 18/5. The no.1 is the reigning champion, Pogacar 12/5. The 2018 winner, Geraint Thomas, is 7/1, and 2019 champion, Egan Bernal 12/1 the same as Remco Evenepoel. Tom Dumoulin and Richard Carapaz both sit at 14/1.
Roglic's tragic loss in France was one of the biggest upset that happened in a while, and many believed that the 31-year old might collapse mentally following such a development. But that didn't happen. Furthermore, Roglic came even stronger, winning La Vuelta for the second consecutive time, and keeping the top place in the UCI rankings, far ahead of all other favorites.
Despite odd weather circumstances, he was confident in Spain. The only place where he wasn't successful in accordance with his status is Giro D'Italia. Even though you found his name in the mix often enough, and seeing him win a couple of stages, Roglic couldn't win the most prominent cycling race in Italy. The third place in 2019 was his best.
Apparently, that is going to stay like this because Roglic probably won't participate at this year's Giro due to schedule conflicts caused by the Olympic Games.
It is no wonder why Tao Geoghegan Hart is far away from all the other riders here when looking at the chances to win the competition. The reigning champion is 1/6 to win it again, ahead of Egnal Bernal, 7/4, Remco Evenepoel 5/1, and Simon Yates, 6/1. Emanuel Buchmann sits at 8/1, ahead Mikel Landa 14/1.
The odds for most of the events are still not out, because of the calculations due to the Olympics. Nobody wants to reveal its plans, and for the moment, Roglic's name appears in just one more race, Milan - Sanremo.
Although, in this case, he is not among the favorites to win the honors. With 65/1, he is in the middle of the list, topped by fantastic Wout van Aert who is 4/1. Slightly behind is Julian Alaphilippe with 5/1. Mathieu Van Der Poel is 13/2, and closes the top echelon of the favorites. Davide Ballerini is 12/1, Peter Sagan 14/1, and Caleb Ewan 15/1.
Do know that the situation is going to change heavily in the weeks to come once each cyclist starts revealing his schedule and plans for the upcoming season. As said before, the Olympics caused many of them to change the original projections. Therefore, keep your eyes on the odds and news.
The competition in Tokyo starts on July 25 and ends on August 9 according to the current plans, which are also flexible due to the overall global situation.
Regardless of that all, wherever Roglic shows up, he will be among the biggest candidates to win the event. The No.1 cyclist in the world intends to keep that spot at the end of 2021, and judging by his form and mindset, Roglic has excellent chances of fulfilling his goal.
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