Primoz Roglic retains Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe belief ahead of Tour de France, says chief Rolf Aldag - 'He can bounce back'
Published 29/06/2025 at 13:55 GMT+1
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe chief of sports Rolf Aldag said that he still "believes" in Primoz Roglic ahead of the Tour de France, despite the 35-year-old having not made it to the race's final stage since 2020. Roglic also enters the Tour having crashed out on Stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia back in May. You can watch the Tour de France live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Watch: 'He looks battered and bruised' - Roglic abandons Giro after latest crash
Video credit: TNT Sports
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe chief of sports Rolf Aldag insisted he still "believes" in Primoz Roglic ahead of the Tour de France.
Roglic has failed to complete the last three Tours he has entered, while he abandoned after a crash on Stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia back in May.
But Aldag reiterated his belief in Roglic ahead of the Tour de France, which you can watch live on TNT Sports and discovery+ when the race gets underway on July 5.
"Certainly we believe in him, and certainly we think it's realistic he can bounce back again, because it is like that: when something went wrong, he comes back better," Aldag told Cyclingnews.
"That's his nature. That's his normal behaviour, and we do hope that it happens at the Tour. But it's not just only hope.
"It's also looking at data, looking at numbers - he will be ready. Therefore, we absolutely do not see a reason not to be optimistic about the Tour de France with him.
"We have to play it smart, and like everybody else, we have to avoid crashing with all our riders. How do we do that? Stay together as a team. Work as a team.
"Be prepared, know the course, and even then, still things can happen, but I do believe we can't be prepared better than we are this year."
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Roglic 'tried with all his power' but it was 'just too much'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Aldag: Anything can happen when 'dealing with humans'
Aldag added that anything can happen when "dealing with humans", while referencing an incident from the 2023 Tour, when the seemingly flawless Tadej Pogacar told his UAE Team Emirates-XRG companions "I’m gone, I’m dead" upon losing contact with the yellow jersey group.
"It's not Zwifting, isn't it?" Aldag said. "Where only numbers count, you're on a virtual trainer, and if you push 50 watts more, you will be ahead of the other one – it's not that.
"And we know what can happen because we've seen it multiple times now to Primoz.
"We're not hoping for anything bad to happen, but we remember when Tadej ran completely out of energy, and there was the scene when you hear him on the microphone completely done, losing minutes and minutes.
"What gives us a realistic perspective is that we deal with humans, not with robots. If we just say Primoz, Tadej, Jonas [Vingegaard], and Remco [Evenepoel] are machines, well, it would be pretty predictable and you would know the outcome…
"But they're not, so dealing with humans always leaves a chance for errors and for outstanding performances as well."
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Highlights: Almeida romps to Stage 8 to claim overall title in Switzerland
Video credit: TNT Sports
Is Roglic underrated ahead of Tour de France?
While Roglic is not among the bookmakers’ favourites to take the yellow jersey this year, Aldag insisted that he did not mind if the 35-year-old was being underrated.
"Oh, that's fine for me [if he's underrated], we can live with that, definitely," Aldag continued.
"We've seen Tadej Pogacar and what he has done so far this season, that's pretty impressive, and you know who is the clear favourite – we don't really have to discuss it.
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"I do think that we go along with that, but there are always opportunities and chances. And why would people underrate Primoz?
"I think within the bunch, they definitely won't do that. Would they allow him to go into an early breakaway and give him five minutes?
"I would be very surprised if there is not a super hectic response and panic in the bunch, which also means he cannot just completely change his riding style, because there will always be an alert going off if he goes aggressive and offensive.
"He's still in that range of favourites, and I do think that's how the race will unfold. For him as well, to see what he, Remco, Jonas, and Tadej can do, see how they fight it out, that's going to be what I see as a big fight there."
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