'We're not freelancers'; Primoz Roglic responds to choices within Red Bull, but also leaves opening

Press moments with Primoz Roglic, they can be as elusive as they are entertaining. It was again of that at the media day organized by Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in Mallorca. Roglic is entering his final contract year with the German team, but worrying? No, the old Slovenian won't get mad anymore.

While most teams store camps on the Costa Blanca, the Germans are the only WorldTour team choosing to dock/fly on the more eastern Mallorca. Roglic is fine with it all, having resided there himself for a while. 'I was already a cyclist, actually. I lived in El Arenal during the winter, in 2016 and 2017. It's a nice place to be in the winter.'

CEO Ralph Denk and sports manager Zak Dempster had announced moments before that Roglic will not ride a Giro or Tour, but will go for his fifth overall victory in the Vuelta. The Slovenian's response? "If there is something I have learned over the years, it is that things can change in a cycling season. There has to be planning, because we are not freelancers on this team.'

Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz are now the star boys, Roglic is already being pushed a bit more toward the shadows. 'I like it. On the one hand there is less pressure, but actually I don't need to have that anymore anyway.'

'We all know how tough the Vuelta will be, but when I think about it now, every race is like that these days,' Roglic laughed. 'Everyone rides incredibly fast and all those young guys work their asses off for every race. It's a challenge. Even winning a stage in Valencia is hard these days.'

Does that sound like a Slovenian version of everything used to be better and the imminent end of a rich cycling career?'I hope not, I would like to race for ten more years. But I have to stay eager and happy and be able to enjoy it. As long as that is the case, I will continue to race. Part of that is related to the results I will get, but then again it is not. We will see, day by day, year by year.' Just to pull a few more clichés out of the top hat.

It may all look a bit stoic, but you can bet Roglic will be there and about at the Vuelta start in his Monaco. 'It's something winners have in them. Maybe you are born with it, maybe it grows as time goes on. But it does make me happy to fight for wins and that's what I get paid for. And if you don't win, you have to learn from it and accept it.'

Roglic did the same after last year's Tour, in which things didn't go the way he would like. 'Maybe because of the change I was able to take some distance from cycling, which gives me a bit more space. I no longer have the obsession to win one race, but it's also not like I wake up and work hard just to finish. If I could sign somewhere to win the Tour, I would. But it doesn't work that way. It's all easy talk.

Let the legs do the talking then, 'I start in the Tirreno-Adriatico and also ride the Itzulia, but I have to start somewhere. You can start earlier, but also later. Or in between. They are all difficult races. The Ardennes classics? That's after Basque, right?" he looks questioningly at press secretary Gabriele Uboldi. And yes, those are after the Basque.