Refreshed Roglic eyes successful 2023: "I needed some time for myself"
Slovenia's three-time Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic speaks to Olympics.com about bouncing back from a difficult 2022 and his mindset for 2023 and beyond.
Cycling Road
It's fair to say the 2022 road cycling season was something of a nightmare for Primoz Roglic.
The three-time Vuelta a España champion and perennial Grand Tour general classification contender started last season strongly with titles at Paris–Nice and the Dauphiné, but crashed out of both the Tour de France and the Vuelta.
The Slovenian, who also withdrew from the 2021 Tour after struggling with injuries sustained in a crash during the race, ended up undergoing season-ending surgery following his Vuelta accident last September.
However, the Jumbo-Visma rider believes that was a blessing in disguise.
Speaking to Olympics.com ahead of the upcoming Giro d'Italia, Roglic expressed his enjoyment at being back on his bike but admitted appreciating his time away from the UCI WorldTour circuit with his second child arriving in the off-season.
"It's nice to be back racing and definitely, so far, it's going great. I had a bit of setbacks, a bit of a reset. I needed some time for myself.
"I did the operation with the shoulder, surgery, then tried to figure out what to do at the end to start building up slowly for this season."
Primoz Roglic on bouncing back from setbacks
Roglic has a knack for overcoming setbacks and injuries in his career. Famously, in his prior sporting life as a ski jumper, the Slovenian suffered a horror crash in 2007 at Planica but came back to continue ski jumping for another three years.
However, the 33-year-old shared: "It's definitely easy sometimes probably to talk about (overcoming setbacks) or discuss it (from a distance). But when it's there in reality, when the things are happening, it's usually a lot harder.
"Looking at myself, luckily probably I'm the guy who always tries to move forward fast. Always new challenges are coming. We have one opportunity to live, always being open and happy for everything that comes."
While Roglic has had to deal with adversity, he has also been at the top of his sports – plural – and won major titles.
He was a junior world champion in ski jumping before winning Olympic gold as a cyclist (in the time trial at Tokyo 2020) to go with a monument (Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2020) and his three Vuelta titles.
Such an athlete might struggle for motivation, for a spark to keep them going. But not Roglic.
"You have always a challenge inside yourself because with everything that comes, yes you know how to do it but, at the end, you still need to do it.
"It's always a battle I think in each of us, no matter how you look - looking at the races or the results, or looking at the world, looking at whatever: you keep fighting, you keep doing things that you are for and being happy at the end.
"If you believe in the good things, the good things also returns to you. So yeah, I try to stand by some things (beliefs) that I have."
Primoz Roglic's 2023 races, goals, and Olympic thoughts for Paris 2024
Roglic will take to the start line of the 2023 Giro d'Italia, the first Grand Tour of the season, on 6 May. The Slovenian has finished on the podium in the Italian test once before, finishing third in 2019, and is one of the favourites this year.
However, Roglic does not have any plans for the height of summer and will skip the Tour in addition to likely missing the UCI World Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain.
"I don't know if I'll even go," he told Olympics.com. Instead, his second big goal of 2023 will be Spain at the end of August, where he will aim to win a record-tying fourth Vuelta title.
Longer-term, the Olympic Games Paris 2024 are in Roglic's sights although he has not decided whether to defend his Olympic time trial title or focus on the road race.
"I have not much idea about the parcours so maybe it depends on that. I can then decide more if I want to be better on the road or the time trial.
"The dream is to first be there (at the Olympics) and then second to get a medal there. I already have that, but for sure it will be a nice challenge again."
Primoz Roglic's legacy in cycling, and why he's not chasing specific races
Does Roglic ever hanker for his previous career as a ski jumper?
"I like it, it's cool to watch," he said without giving much away. "I'm in contact all the time with our guys, especially with our national coach from Slovenia – he was my schoolmate. I follow them."
With everything the Slovenian has achieved, Roglic claims there is nothing left on his "wish list" of wins.
Surprising, perhaps, given he lost the 2020 Tour de France on the penultimate stage, a mountainous time trial, having led for most of the race.
"I already won some races, hopefully I still win some but I'm happy on the journey," he said. "I'll take opportunity where it comes. I'm very happy and proud already of the races that I won and I will still do my best and hopefully I still win some of them.
"I'm enjoying the things that I'm doing and at the end of the career, when I really stop riding, then yeah, we can (draw) a line and see what all I achieved."