For the fourth time in his career, Primoz Roglic has won the Vuelta a España, equalling Roberto Heras’ record.
Call him “Mr. Vuelta”! Primoz Roglic won the Vuelta a España for the fourth time, equaling the record for most Vuelta victories set by Spaniard Roberto Heras in the early 2000s in Madrid on Sunday.
Also readTour of Spain: Primoz Roglic wins his fourth Vuelta, Stefan Küng takes the final time trial
One, two, three, four. By taking second place in the final time trial in the streets of the Spanish capital, behind the Swiss Stefan Küng, the Slovenian won his fourth red jersey after his successes in 2019, 2020 and 2021. A fifth victory in a grand Tour – a total achieved by only eleven riders – after his success in the Giro last year, for the one who is still chasing a title in the Tour de France, where he almost got there in 2020, 2nd less than a minute behind his compatriot Tadej Pogacar.
“I’m happy, I’m simply enjoying it”he reacted to the organizer’s microphone. “Winning a fifth time? As a competitor, you never get enough. But right now, I just want to enjoy after so many sacrifices, not only myself but everyone around me.”After 21 stages and nearly 60,000 metres of elevation gain, the leader of the Red Bull-Bora team is 2 minutes 36 seconds ahead of the Australian Ben O’Connor, who wore the leader’s red jersey for thirteen days.
Spaniard Enric Mas kept his third place on the podium, ahead of Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, 4th. Frenchman David Gaudu, whose time trial is not his favourite exercise, lost his fifth place, overtaken by Dane Mattias Skjelmose, white jersey of the best young rider of the event.
With Pogacar and Roglic, Slovenian control over the three major Tours is complete
Australian Kaden Groves left Madrid with the green jersey in the points classification, while his compatriot Jay Vine finished top of the best climber classification. As for the defending winner, American Sepp Kuss, he had to settle for 14th place.
Roglic, often dogged by bad luck during his career, trembled until the end after losing three of his teammates on Saturday, the Spaniard Daniel Martinez, the Austrian Patrick Gamper and the Belgian Nico Denz, all victims of digestive problems due, perhaps, to food poisoning. The Slovenian was spared.
On Sunday, 30-year-old Stefan Küng claimed his first stage victory in a Grand Tour. The Groupama-FDJ rider finished 31 seconds ahead of Roglic. “Today was the end of the story and you always want to finish well. But on this kind of very flat time trial, Stefan is very strong. Even if everything went well, it was very difficult at the end.”acknowledged the former ski jumper, rejoicing that after Tadej Pogacar’s successes in the Tours de France and Italy, the Slovenians won all three three-week races in 2024. “It’s incredible for a small country”he said happily.
Often frustrated in the past, Kung, 30, was finally able to rejoice in his first stage success on a major Tour. “I often missed a few seconds. It was infuriating. But I arrived at the Vuelta in great shape after being sick on the Tour de Suisse and having had a complicated Grande Boucle. In Spain, I was really able to enjoy myself. I loved every day of this race.”explained the rider of the Groupama-FDJ team.
