That’s why Giro winner Primoz Roglic is switching to Bora-hansgrohe

The cycling showman Peter Sagan, who acts with nonchalance and has a large fan base, was the first big signing; that was in 2017. Getting Primož Roglič, who drives and wins with clinical precision, from the 2024 season onwards is the next special transfer coup. Team boss Ralph Denk was proud of this personality when he announced the “another milestone” for his Bora-hansgrohe team in a media round on Friday.

The only German WorldTour team will be enormously enhanced with the signing of the Slovenian star. With the 33-year-old at the start, the team will immediately be favorites in big races. And on a terrain in which the Bavarian team, with the exception of winning the Giro d’Italia 2022, “has always been a bit lacking,” as Denk says: the big tours.

Use with Jumbo-Visma

The racing team is now being strengthened with a professional who has already won four Grand Tours, the Vuelta a España three times (2019 to 2021) and the Giro this year. And whose list of victories also looks impressive. This season alone, the former ski jumper has won four of the five (all well-known) tours in which he took part. The fact that there was no next triumph at the Vuelta in September apparently contributed to the break with his previous employer Jumbo-Visma.

The Dutch team, spoiled for victory, ostensibly ended the Tour of Spain with the greatest possible success with three professionals in the first three places. However, the fact that the team order “only” provided for third place for Roglič, who originally started as captain, angered the Slovenian, as Denk made it clear. And the way was cleared in poker for the star and big earner, in which several teams took part.

Denk reported on Friday that he had wanted to sign the then neo-professional and career changer Roglič for the 2016 season and had negotiated with him in a Salzburg beer garden – before he began his illustrious career at Jumbo-Visma, whose plans to merge with Equipe Quick-Step is currently keeping the cycling world in suspense. “The good memories of when we met years ago made the conversations easy,” says Roglič, who is competing in the Tour of Lombardy this Saturday as a contender for victory. “But the decisive factor was that the team was really motivated to work with me and we had the same ideas.”

One idea that is likely to take up a lot of space is planning for his first victory in the Tour de France. The Slovenian associates some of his bitterest experiences with the Tour of France, especially those from 2020, when he let compatriot Tadej Pogačar snatch the seemingly certain Tour triumph from him on the last stage on the last mountain in the individual time trial. A look at the 2024 Bora squad shows that they will be able to provide Roglič with a powerful team of helpers.

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It was agreed not to disclose the term of the contract, but Denk said about the size of the deal: Compared to the negotiations at the time, “two zeros” were added to the salary. The team was able to finance the deal “from reserves and equity,” says Denk, for whom Roglič’s advanced age is not an issue: “He loves what he does. And this infatuation will help him to continue to perform at his best.”