July 23, 2018
Slovenia’s Primoz Roglič, the cyclist who began as a ski jumper, is now being talked of as a possible winner of the Tour de France as the race enters its third week, reports Velonews, quoting the UAE-Emirates sport director Joxean Fernández: ““He is the prototype of modern cycling — a real ‘chronoman’ who can climb well. We’ve seen him step up by winning races like País Vasco and Romandie. I think he’s capable of being strong in the third week, and with the final time trial, even win the Tour.” Roglič, 28, who cycles for LottoNL-Jumbo, finished stage 15 on Sunday fourth in the overall rankings, and won the Tour of Slovenia last month.
The Tour de France is currently led by Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), with a combined time of 62h 49 minutes and 47 seconds, followed by Chris Froom (Team Sky), Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and then Roglič, who is just 2 minutes and 38 seconds from the yellow jersey.
Today is the second rest day of the Tour, with stage 16 taking place on Tuesday. This is a 218 km route from Carcassonne to Bagneres-de-Luchon that will see the riders tackle three mountain passes in the Pyrenees — the Portet-d’Aspet, Menté, and Portillon.
