Primoz Roglic ‘making rapid progress’ and targeting a return at Volta a Catalunya, say Jumbo-Visma

Team Jumbo-Visma sporting director Merijn Zeeman says Primoz Roglic is making “rapid progress” in his recovery from a shoulder injury.

“He is ahead of schedule that we had in mind and is making rapid progress. The shoulder needs time and so he is not allowed to race yet, but he can work his hours in the gym and on the bike.

“It is now about training, training, training. In February he will join us for a training camp and then we expect that he can start in Catalonia at the end of March.”

Zeeman added: “In the Giro there is an incredibly tough course, with everything in it: time trials, explosive finishes, long climbs at altitude, an incredibly tough third week. It’s up to us to get Primoz back to Remco’s [Evenepoel] time trial level, Evenepoel is now one step ahead of us.

“And then comes that last week, for which you need very specific qualities. Primoz is a favourite, Remco is a favourite, Geraint Thomas is a favourite, and some men will come around to make it very difficult for them.

“Primoz is very confident that he can still beat guys like Evenepoel, [Tadej] Pogacar and [Jonas] Vingegaard at his age and so are we. He was still Olympic time-trial champion in 2021, wasn’t he? That was not so long ago. Will he still be able to win the Tour in the future? Yes, I think so.”

Zeeman focused more on the Giro in particular and the importance of Wilco Kelderman and Tobias Foss as support riders.

“If you want to win a big round, you have to start with a very strong team,” he said. “We need guys like that to go for the overall win and we have hope that Wilco can really go with the best, to be with Primoz that much.

“There are of course scenarios that something happens and you have to switch and that is also a quality of ours. However, Wilco and Tobias are there for Primoz and to win the pink jersey with him.”