Intermarche? UAE? Where next for Roglic if he leaves Red Bull?
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Roglic currently rides for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, but there have been plenty of rumours that the 36-year-old is heading for pastures new next season.He is a tantalising prospect for any team, the former four-time La Vuelta champion having also won the Giro d’Italia back in 2023, along with three individual stages of the Tour de France.Roglic, 36, has been at Red Bull since 2024, but it remains to be seen where he will end up next year. And one very interesting prospect would be Roglic teaming up with his fellow Slovenian Pogacar at UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
“I want to know where he is going to and what is not official, I want to know what you two know,” Adam Blythe said on TNT Sport’s The Breakaway.
“Intermarche is a rumour. But that is only a rumour,” replied Matt Stephens.
“I heard [Team] UAE,” added Blythe.
“That has been doing the rounds as well, and I love that rumour,” presenter Orla Chennaoui said. “I would love to see him go in there, as he would be incredible in that team.
“He wouldn’t be expected to win, and what a domestique he would be, and he’d have a chance in some of the smaller stage races.”
Blythe concluded: “Arguably, he’d be more successful in UAE than he would be in a smaller team, because he could just ride off the back of Tadej.”
Roglic currently trails Pogacar by 3’21’’ in the general classification in La Vuelta, with many expecting Pogacar to finally win the one Grand Tour that has eluded him thus far in his career. And while watching Pogacar attempt to defend the red jersey all the way through the three-week stage race will be fascinating, so too will watching how and when Roglic tries to attack his compatriot.
“Out of all the other riders around him, [Roglic] looked the most composed, spinning that low gear that we are used to,” Stephens added..
“He looked calm, he looked in a really, really good place. He now sits second, there is a nice symmetry to the top of the general classification.
“And then the question for me is ‘can he sustain it?’. Because we know he has had a really, really difficult year. But all the signs are good.
“We might have thought he would take a little bit more time to bed himself in, and struggle on a day with such vicious climbing that is so tightly packed.
Watch as Pogacar extends GC lead with Stage 4 masterclass
Video credit: TNT Sports
“But he came through that really well, he looks really relaxed in his pre and post-race interviews. It is looking good, and I couldn’t be happier for him, because there is a lot of speculation about his career.
“He is being asked about his dedication as a pro, because of his laissez-faire attitude, but, so far in this race, here he is sitting [in] second place overall, and looking good.”
Roglic’s best result of the season was his fifth place in Tirreno-Adriatico, while he was eighth in the Tour de Suisse.
“He’s such a classy, classy bike rider. And remember – because it looks like he is moving teams – I’m not sure how much pressure there is, I think he just kind of rides with this liberty,” Stephens said.
“And he has won this race four times, so he probably knows that Tadej is going to win it, so he can enjoy this race, and I think that is better without this kind of pressure on his shoulders.”
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