Roglič emotional, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe proud of key result after finishing second in Vuelta

Primož Roglič and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe finished second in the Vuelta a España general classification. The Slovenian had already won the Spanish Grand Tour four times in his career and arrived aiming for a fifth victory, but after a heavily disrupted preparation, the team are mainly surprised and delighted that their experienced leader was still able to reach such a high level.

Roglič had prepared meticulously for the Vuelta in the months leading up to the Grand Tour, but shortly before the start in Monaco it was revealed that he had been hit by a car during training. The Slovenian was unable to train for ten days, but still made it to the start line of the Vuelta. His level was not poor either, but the first part of the race was mainly about staying in contact and limiting the damage.

When Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) disappeared from the battle after stage 8 and Enric Mas (Movistar) took control of the race, Roglič suddenly became his main challenger. However, he was never truly dominant, as shown by the fact that he gained “only” 33 seconds on Mas in the stage 18 time trial. It was enough, though, to finish second behind the Spaniard.

On the penultimate day, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe tried everything, inspired by a speech from team director Sven Vanthourenhout. The Belgian reminded everyone that Roglič still had a chance of taking the red jersey away from Mas. “He is still getting better every day,” was one of the messages from the team. However, stage 20 showed that this was no longer the case.

“Full of emotions, I gave everything. Life is a fight, thank you,” Roglič wrote on his social media accounts the day after stage 20. It was the stage in which he still had to fight to keep hold of his second place overall, after Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) attacked on the final climb and put pressure on the Slovenian. In the end, Roglič held firm.

As a result, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe are heading towards another Grand Tour podium in 2026, following Jai Hindley’s third place at the Giro d’Italia and Remco Evenepoel’s second place at the Tour de France. “Primož no longer had the legs to accelerate, so that is what it is,” Vanthourenhout said after stage 20 to Cyclingnews.

Red Bull pushed hard throughout the stage for Roglič, who ultimately had to defend rather than attack. “We have to be happy with second place. We got everything out of the team and Primož in this race. Mas is the deserved winner, and we can look back on a beautiful race. We always had in mind that Primož lost ten days heading into the Vuelta.”

“We had to be careful and wait until the final week before we could take the initiative. We trusted the process towards the end and did everything perfectly. Before the race, we would have signed for this second place considering the preparation Primož had. He produced one of the best time trials of his career on stage 18, so it is a good result.”