Primoz Roglic: Winning Tour de France not an obsession, but it’s my responsibility to go for it

Primoz Roglic does not view winning the Tour de France as an “obsession”, but says it is his “responsibility to go for it” as the last Grand Tour missing from his considerable palmares.

Roglic, 33, has won the Vuelta a Espana three times and triumphed at the Giro d’Italia for the first time earlier this year, beating Britain’s Geraint Thomas to the maglia rosa.

His best finish at the Tour de France was in 2020 when he came second having been in yellow before losing a large chunk of time to Tadej Pogacar on the penultimate time-trial stage.

“I’ve won a lot, and so even if I stop immediately, I’m super proud of what I’ve won and what has happened.

“But it’s my responsibility to go for it, to try to do everything to win, to have no regrets and be proud of what happens.”

Reflecting on his agonising loss in 2020, when he led by 57 seconds heading into the stage ending at La Planche des Belles Filles, Roglic said he looks for the positives from it.

“I was there to win and finish it off, so it was hard when I lost. But looking back, I have to be happy about it because afterwards, I won a lot of things,” he said.

“Maybe I could have won the Tour, but perhaps I wouldn’t have then won all that I did, so the 2020 Tour actually gave me a lot. It always depends on how you look at things in life.

“You can be disappointed, but always take some positives from it and look to the future. We can always create our own future.”

Roglic might have won another Grand Tour at this year’s Vuelta a Espana.

There was controversy at the race as Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard rode away from team-mate Sepp Kuss, who was in the red jersey, on Stage 17.

Asked about the situation at the Vuelta, Roglic said: “I’ll talk straight. In races, I’m there to win, and that’s my responsibility, to do my best.

“We came into a new situation for the team with us one-two-three. Maybe by pushing myself more and more, I could have destroyed that picture, but you never know what could have happened.

“Cycling is a team sport, and I was the first one who was super happy because Sepp really deserved it. He was the best and never showed any weakness.

“It was crazy to be on the podium with the two guys who, in the past, grew up and learnt from being at my side and then becoming big champions. It was special to be a part of that story.”