Primoz Roglic has won the 2019 Vuelta a España. The leading position of the Slovenian leader of Team Jumbo-Visma was not compromised at all in the final stage to Madrid. With that Roglic achieves something unique. He is not only the first Slovenian to win a Grand Tour, it is also the first overall victory in the existence of Team Jumbo-Visma.
This continues the success of Team Jumbo-Visma. The team of CEO Richard Plugge also won two stages in the Vuelta, with Roglic and Sepp Kuss. For Roglic it is an 11th victory of the season and the 47th for Team Jumbo-Visma.
Earlier this year Roglic won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie. He finished third in the Giro d’Italia. Therefore Roglic has finished on the overall podium in every stage race in which he started this season. Team Jumbo-Visma also finished on the podium in every Grand Tour this year. One and a half months ago Steven Kruijswijk grabbed third place in the Tour de France.
“I am very happy. I have no words for this”, Roglic said. “It gives an indescribable feeling. This victory is not only my most beautiful win, but it is also the biggest win for cycling in Slovenia. It has been three difficult and tough weeks with many ups and downs. The many crashes and setbacks especially made it mentally difficult. There were several important moments as there was a lot happening every day. We had to be riding attentively and focused every day. As a team, we have shown resilience. I am proud of the team, the way we have fought the past three weeks. Everyone has given 110 percent, and that also gave me extra motivation to fully go for it. I am relieved that we have been able to bring this to an close successfully. Now we are going to enjoy it, and then we will focus on our next goals.”
CEO Plugge mentions this as the best result his team has ever achieved. “A victory in a grand tour is the highest achievement. The Tour is of course the biggest race, but this is a big and beautiful step in that direction. This is the best victory in the team’s existence so far. At the end of last year we started the process of structurally joining the top echelon of cycling. Both in the classics and in the Grand Tours. This year we have shown that we are going into the right direction by making it onto the overall podium in every Grand Tour. One of the steps was to make the team stronger, especially the second tier. And to find a mix of young talents and experienced guys. Steven and Primoz have already shown that they can compete for the podiums in Grand Tours and, with Tom Dumoulin joining the team, that perspective only gets bigger.”
Roglic is in his fourth season with Team Jumbo-Visma and has grown steadily in his development. “We started carefully with Roglic,” Plugge continues. “We first had to see if he was able to do a bike race. It soon became apparent that he could do that. We have been following his progress step by step. First in the one week races and last year also in a Grand Tour when he finished fourth in the Tour de France. This year’s Giro was a lesson for him and the team. The biggest lesson was to stay sharp and focused for three weeks. We did that in this Vuelta. The team was very strong and Primoz got the best out of everyone. That is why we always emphasise ‘samen winnen’, winning together.”
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