Primoz Roglic: “It was a difficult day from the start”

Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora) added his second partial victory in the eighth stage of the 79th Vuelta a España, on a day where he ensured that he did not have any problems even though he “suffered a lot”.

“It was a difficult day with a difficult start to the stage, I had no problem and in the end on a short climb I went for it and managed to win,” he commented.

As for the time he managed to reduce the leader, Australian Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) was pleased with the 55 second advantage he gained because “it’s nice to get an advantage”.

“In the end, I felt good and I had the legs and the luck to win this stage”he explained.

Roglic acknowledged that together with the physiotherapists and masseuses of the team “they do a lot with my body” to definitely overcome the physical problems that still remain since he fell in the Tour de France in the twelfth stage and which forced him retire.

In this sense, he noted that he will continue to try to do “what I can. Every day we run hard, and we will see how my body responds to all these demands after a difficult period in my fall . We’ll see.”

The former ski jumper, who added his fourteenth stage victory to the Spanish race that made him, along with the Dutchman Gerben Karstens, the sixth historical cyclist with the most partial victories, explained that it was necessary he will continue to work in the coming days to try. to add his fourth Vuelta equaling Spaniard Roberto Heras at the top of the list. “There are very difficult days ahead.”

Regarding the heat they will experience this Sunday in the very difficult stage of Granada, Roglic settled the debate: ““I prefer heat to cold”to which he added that to combat the high temperatures they were facing he was “drinking a lot.”