New crash had little impact on Roglic’s abandon: "He already struggled pushing 60 Watts on the Trainer’

Roglic had crashed multiple times during this Giro. He first hit the ground in his homeland, stage 14 to Nova Gorica turned into a disaster where he lost significant time. But the damage in Siena was even worse. The past week and a half had been a grind. On Sunday, he fell out of GC contention, and the rest day revealed the true situation. “Primoz was already struggling when he could barely push 60 watts on the rollers,” Lamberts told Het Nieuwsblad.

The general classification was no longer a goal, and talk of a DNS began circulating. Still, Roglic showed up at the start in Piazzola sul Brenta. “He started out of respect for his teammates, who had done so much for him in recent stages,” said the Belgian coach. “But it was mainly the crash in the gravel stage to Siena that really did the damage.” In stage nine, Roglic crashed hard on the Tuscan white roads, losing over a minute to his top rivals.

The crash during the first week of the Giro had serious consequences for Primoz Roglic. On top of that, it aggravated old injuries. “He fell on the same shoulder he injured during the Dauphiné last year. He also had several deep wounds with lots of debris, which made recovery very energy-draining. His quadriceps was also affected, causing pain with every upward pedal stroke.” After yet another crash during a rain-soaked stage 16, Roglic withdrew from the race.

Roglic has dealt with plenty of bad luck throughout his career, so he knows how to handle setbacks. “Mentally, Primoz seems okay. We’ve been through a lot already. Last year, after he abandoned the Tour de France, he was in a really dark place. Now the situation is different. Of course, we’ll check for any fractures or serious muscle injuries, but for now, we’re not assuming anything too serious. After a week of rest with his family, he should be able to resume his Tour de France preparation as planned, with a high-altitude training camp in Tignes. In that sense, he’s actually getting an extra week of recovery.”