Roglič wins time trial at the Tour of the Basque Country
Irun, 1 April - Slovenian cycling star and Bora-Hansgrohe rider Primož Roglič started the Tour of the Basque Country with a victory in time trial on Monday to take the first leader's jersey in pursuit of his third title at the Spanish stage race. Roglič, an Olympic time trial champion, won the 10-kilometre event in Irun despite going briefly off course.
Ljubljana
Slovenian cyclist Primož Roglič.
Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
File photo
Roglič was seven seconds faster than Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) from Australia and ten seconds faster that Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) from Denmark. Belgian Remco Evenepoel was 11 seconds behind.
The 34-year-old Slovenian won despite veering off the route, briefly, in the direction where support vehicles exit the course inside 100 metres to the finish. This cost him a few seconds, but he still stopped the clock at 12 minutes, 34 seconds.
"It's great to be here again, and legs, obviously, were good. I felt strong. I did a bit of a mistake at the end, but corrected it and luckily it was still enough," Roglič told Eurosport at the finish.
He told the organisers it would be nice to keep the leader's jersey until the end "but there's a long way to go yet".
This is Roglič's first victory for the German Bora-Hansgrohe team, which he joined last autumn after leaving the Dutch giant Jumbo-Visma after eight years, and his 81st in total. It is his 18th victory in time trial, and the fifth consecutive at the Tour of the Basque Country (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022).
Tomorrow's second stage will take cyclists on a 160-kilometre race from Irun to Kanbo (France).