As he nears his thirty sixth birthday, ends his tenth season at WorldTour stage, and prepares for a brand new, maybe closing yr of his profession, Primož Roglič is extra reflective and extra philosophical than typical.
“I am nonetheless right here, you understand, I am nonetheless using the bike,” he tells Cyclingnews throughout an unique end-of-season interview.
He’ll proceed to trip – and race – the bike into 2026, too, persevering with for an additional yr with Pink Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, however as what may very well be his final season approaches, it is clear he’s reflecting on his life in biking to date.
This week, Roglič will be part of Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz and all of the 2026 Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe roster and workers in Salzburg, Austria on the Pink Bull Athlete Efficiency Centre. Like with different groups, this pre-winter get collectively is a staff bonding occasion, away from the pressures of racing and the calls for of winter coaching. The times will likely be full of medical checks, conferences, calendar planning and very important time collectively.
Primož Roglič grew to become the staff chief when he joined the German staff in 2024, now Evenepoel will take the function of prime canine, maybe sharing staff management on the Tour de France after Lipowitz’s breakthrough third place in July. Roglič is prone to transfer down the staff hierarchy however that doesn’t fear him.
2026 with Remco Evenepoel – ‘We’ll see, uh?’
In latest weeks, Roglič’s easy phrase: “we’ll see, uh?” has sparked headlines about his personal future in 2026 and about his future relationship with Evenepoel, and particularly about staff management at Pink Bull and the Tour.
“How did the sensible man say it? We are going to see, uh. We are going to see how it’s within the subsequent days, weeks, however yeah usually I am subsequent yr nonetheless using the bike,” Roglič informed Eurosport initially of Tre Valli Varesine in early October.
Earlier than falling for the clickbait, it is necessary to higher perceive Roglič’s ideas.
“I mentioned that as a result of I do not actually wish to take into consideration the long run, we do not even know if we’re alive subsequent yr…” he tells Cyclingnews, the fatigue of 2025 clearly stopping him considering an excessive amount of about 2026.
“I nonetheless have a contract, so usually I will nonetheless trip the bike, after which we see what occurs in the course of the season. I take life day-to-day, comfortable that I am nonetheless right here and nonetheless using my bike.
“I’ve achieved quite a bit already, I used to be a ski jumper for 15 years and I have been a bike owner for 15 years, that is an enormous deal. I am positive {that a} man who began racing aged 22 wouldn’t have an opportunity to be knowledgeable now, they only would not take into account him. I am actually comfortable that I had the prospect and that I took it.”
Roglič and Evenepoel are related riders however very totally different folks in very totally different moments of their careers.
“We have now greater opponents to attempt to compete in opposition to, why ought to we compete in opposition to one another?” Roglič asks, figuring out that Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard are their true rivals.
“It is about how we do our greatest collectively. Remco’s an unimaginable man and already has some actually massive outcomes. Hopefully he can proceed to each do effectively collectively.
“I do not actually know him, we have by no means actually talked to one another, solely on the bike to say howdy, which is not a lot. We’ll get to know one another on the staff camp. That is step one for us to work collectively.”
Roglič just lately admitted to the Slovenian media that he’s trying ahead to Evenepoel and Lipowitz sharing the burden of staff management.
“I hope to have just a little extra peace, just a little extra freedom,” he says.
“Remco’s arrival is an effective factor. It means I can step apart a bit from all of the accountability and all of the issues outdoors of biking. Now we’ve one youthful man that everybody can look to.
“I need actual issues, actual conversations and actual objectives for 2026. We are going to sit down with the staff administration and discuss what we will obtain collectively subsequent yr.
“We have grown up and have folks round us to fret about the perfect vitamin, aerodynamics and supplies. I can actually deal with simply being a bike owner. That is sufficient for me.”
2025 – A traditional Primož Roglič season of success, crashes and comebacks
2025 was a traditional Roglič season, for higher or for worse, for achievement crashes and satisfying comebacks.
Roglič was on fireplace on the Volta a Catalunya, cracking Juan Ayuso on the final stage to win general. The Giro d’Italia was a serious objective and he pulled on the maglia rosa and appeared able to struggle for general victory, solely to crash exhausting on the gravel stage to Siena. Additional crashes left him in large ache and so he deserted on stage 16.
He was overwhelmed up and nearly damaged, needing antibiotics to recuperate however nonetheless skilled at altitude in June and nonetheless rode the Tour de France as deliberate.
He gave up on an general outcome even earlier than the beginning in Lille however that allowed him to trip rigorously within the peloton. He misplaced time however then he started to indicate indicators of kind within the Pyrenees. He moved as much as fifth and will have challenged for the ultimate podium spot however most well-liked to danger all of it for a stage win within the Alps. Two main assaults failed and he completed eighth in Paris, simply comfortable to have reached the French capital for the primary time in 5 years.
Most GC riders who had taken on two Grand Excursions took it simple within the closing weeks of the 2025 season. Not Primož Roglič. He went to altitude but once more, rode the World Championships in Rwanda earlier than using the Italian Classics and Il Lombardia.
“I suppose it was a traditional Primož Roglič season, with numerous totally different highs and lows and plenty of totally different feelings,” he admits to Cyclingnews.
“I would positively have appreciated extra, particularly after all of the coaching and all of the work I did. However a biking season, like life, depends upon the way you have a look at. You may say it was tough and shit or be extra constructive, extra balanced. All the pieces occurs for a purpose, so I take all of it, good or dangerous.”
Some interpreted Roglič’s downbeat angle initially of the Tour as an absence of enthusiasm and want. He proved them fallacious by the point he reached Paris.
“If I did not care, then I might be on Bora, Bora island, not in Pink Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe,” he jokes with a real Roglič sense of humour.
“Biking continues to be my life and I feel human beings must have objectives in life. For those who could be comfortable within the morning, you have achieved your first objective in life.
“The Tour was totally different this yr and it made me comfortable. I nearly gained the Tour de France as soon as…. So ending fifth or tenth does not actually give me something. However making an attempt to have some good moments, and good outcomes was good. Ending in Paris was stunning.”
Roglič hints that reaching Paris in July gave him some form of Tour de France closure in any case his crashes and difficult instances within the sports activities’s largest race. With Evenepoel and Lipowitz prone to lead Pink Bull on the 2026 Tour, Primož Roglič is aware of and appears to just accept he might by no means trip the Tour once more.
“I can draw a line beneath the Tour now, with none dangerous emotions,” he admits.
“I am happy with the Tour and with every little thing in my profession. So long as you might be doing one thing you get pleasure from, you continue to wish to win, you wish to do your greatest. That is how I really feel about biking now.”
