It's been a more calm and relaxed Roglič during this year's Vuelta, the terse and repetitious answers from media interviews at the Tour de France replaced with a more easygoing approach after the finish line. On the road, he has similarly been less inhibited, attacking hard and often, surprising rivals and pundits with his aggression on stages where there would normally be an informal truce among the top GC competitors.
He has shown himself to be the strongest climber, and his pedigree in the time trial, as well as his recent Olympics gold medal victory, suggests that he has little to fear on the final day time trial in Santiago de Compostela. While Roglič himself hasn't looked vulnerable, his Jumbo-Visma team have had moments where they have left the Slovenian star isolated on climbs, particularly in the early stages of the Vuelta.
“In the first mountain stage, some people said we were not as strong because some guys were dropped," said Roglič in an interview with Cyclingnews. "But it looks like we are getting there. It’s definitely super nice to have great support around me.”
Sepp Kuss has been improving steadily, and now sits ninth overall, three minutes and 23 seconds behind his team leader.
“For sure, it’s important to keep him as close as possible," said Roglič said of Kuss. "You still don’t know whatever will happen, eh? Maybe he wins at the end. But hopefully, we can ride good and strong together.”
Roglič crashed twice in the second week of competition, once by himself on the descent of the Puerto de Almachar after attacking clear on the late climb. He recovered quickly there and hasn't looked the worse for wear since, winning an uphill sprint on Stage 11 the very next day.
“Crashes are never ideal, but they could have been worse, and I’m still going well," said Roglič. "So I’m super happy about it, a nice week for all of us.”
That Stage 11 aggression was emblematic of a more attacking version of Roglič, one looking to take time wherever possible. That looks set to continue into the third week of the Vuelta, with team management looking above them on the leaderboard to the still sizeable leads for the unlikely duo of Eiking and Martin as well as the quality GC stars still within sight of the overall win.
“First, we have to pull back some time," said Jumbo-Visma sports director Addy Engels. "When you look at the guys behind Primož, starting with Mas and going down the list, that gap should be good, though you can never be sure, it’s always strange after three weeks of racing.
“I already said it a few days ago, a team like Ineos and riders like Bernal and Yates: never forget them. We’ve seen crazy things in the last week of a Grand Tour. Nobody thought [Chris] Froome would win the Giro three years ago.
“So don’t underestimate them. There’s still a long way to go, and they may be quite a bit behind on GC and if Yates was closer, he wouldn’t do a move like the [attack] he did yesterday [on stage 15 to El Barraco]. And the gain was not too much.
“But if we get to a point in the stage where there’s a long way to go and they can make a difference, those gaps could become bigger. So, of the main competitors, we had when we started, I’m not ruling anybody out."
There are two key mountain stages approaching for the contenders for the final red jersey in Santiago de Compostela, stages 17 and 18 to Lagos de Covadonga and Altu de Gaimoniteiru.
“Covadonga is much more irregular, really steep parts and even some descents," said Engels. "Gaimoniteiru is just brutal, 15 kilometres, always steep from the bottom to the finish. Very different.
“But so much depends on the riders. Sunday’s stage was hard, but on paper, it was not a big mountain stage. Yet the way they raced it made it really tough. If they do that on Covadonga or Gaimoniteiru, then for sure the gaps will be really big.”
The Vuelta a España continues on SBS VICELAND and SBS OnDemand with Stage 16 a hilly day from Laredo to Santa Cruz de Bezana over 180km. The broadcast begins at 2300 AEST, with the SKODA Tour Tracker starting at 2250 AEST.
