Primož Roglič: ‘I’m obviously really damaged’ rider says as Tour de France hits the mountains

Primož Roglič‘s (Jumbo-Visma) role in the Tour de France, and even his continued participation could take an irreversible hit on Friday as the race moves into the mountains with a summit finish at La Planche des belles Filles with the Slovenian admitted ahead of the stage that his body is ‘really damaged’ following a crash.

Roglič hit the deck on stage 5 of the race during the cobbles and dislocated his shoulder in what was a heavy fall. He finished the stage after popping his shoulder back into its socket but he trailed home minutes down and headed into stage 7 already 2:27 down on race leader and overall favorite Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).

It looked as though Roglič had made a step forward with his recovery when he accelerated on the finishing climb on stage 6 but the 2020 runner-up admitted that his body was still struggling after the crash.

“‘I’m obviously really damaged’ the rider told ITV ahead of stage 7.

With his time loss and his body in recovery mode it was assumed that Roglič would lend his support to teammate and last year’s second place finisher Jonas Vingegaard. Even that, however, seemed in doubt given what the Slovenian had to say.

“I’m obviously really damaged, on all sides. I have a lot of pain everywhere but I’m not here to cry but just to fight and do my best,” he said.

When asked if he was at least on the path to some sort of recovery, he said.

“We’ll see. You never know. It can go in all directions. Better or worse but I don’t care. I’m here to do my best everyday and I’m happy.”