{"id":564980,"date":"2026-05-04T02:55:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T02:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/564980\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T02:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T02:55:15","slug":"hes-one-of-the-highest-paid-riders-in-the-peloton-why-does-he-look-like-hes-on-vacation-chris-horner-piles-pressure-on-primoz-roglic-amid-romandie-str","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/564980\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe\u2019s one of the highest-paid riders in the peloton… Why does he look like he\u2019s on vacation?\u201d \u2013 Chris Horner piles pressure on Primoz Roglic amid Romandie struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

That perspective set the tone for what followed, as Horner turned his attention to Roglic\u2019s display on the decisive climb. \u201cWhy does he look like he\u2019s on vacation here, dropping off after doing some short pulls?\u201d’<\/p>\n

A moment that summed up the stage<\/p>\n

If that line captured the feeling, the moment that triggered it came closer to the summit. \u201cYou\u2019re 2.2 kilometres from the top of the climb and you\u2019ve got to take a couple of bottles at this moment. This makes no sense to me,\u201d Horner said, pointing to Roglic\u2019s move towards the feed zone while the race was still being shaped.<\/p>\n

That decision stood out immediately, not just because of the action itself, but because of what was happening around it. \u201cThis makes no sense to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Primoz<\/p>\n

Primoz Roglic at the 2026 Tour de Romandie<\/p>\n

From control to collapseEarlier on the climb, Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe<\/a> had taken control of the peloton through Daniel Felipe Martinez, increasing the tempo in what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to put pressure on the race.<\/p>\n

Roglic had briefly been present near the front as that move developed. But that presence did not last. As the pace increased and the group began to fracture, Roglic drifted backwards, eventually losing contact while the race continued to evolve ahead of him.<\/p>\n

For Horner, the contrast with events behind him only deepened the confusion. \u201cHow is it that Roglic got dropped from Dorian Godon and the INEOS riders back there at the same point in time?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Godon, notably, had been distanced earlier on the climb, was chasing behind, and still found a way back into the front group before going on to win the stage for INEOS Grenadiers.<\/p>\n

A team plan without clarity<\/p>\n

The questions did not stop with Roglic alone. Horner also turned his attention to the broader Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe approach, particularly the decision to drive the pace on the climb without a clear outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I like this move,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s only four riders, and only two can do the work. One\u2019s GC and one\u2019s their sprinter.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the climb progressed, the effort began to fragment. Riders dropped away, the group reshaped, and by the summit, the intended impact of that move had failed to materialise.<\/p>\n

Pattern of confusion<\/p>\n

The reaction to stage 3 builds on what had already been a difficult narrative earlier in the race.<\/p>\n

On stage 2, Roglic lost more than two minutes to his general classification rivals on a day that proved manageable for a large group of riders. Eurosport commentators Thomas Bay and Anders Lund questioned both the tactics and the wider implications<\/a>, with Bay suggesting Roglic was \u201criding in his own world\u201d and Lund describing the approach as \u201ccompletely idiotic\u201d.<\/p>\n

The same themes resurfaced here. A rider briefly visible at the front, then absent. A team move without a clear outcome. A race that developed without him.<\/p>\n

For Horner, the conclusion was less about a single mistake and more about a growing lack of clarity. \u201cWhat is going on?\u201d<\/p>\n

With Tadej Pogacar maintaining control of the general classification and other teams continuing to take their opportunities, Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe\u2019s position has shifted.<\/p>\n

Florian Lipowitz remains their primary contender, but the dual leadership dynamic that once offered tactical flexibility has largely disappeared. For Roglic, the questions are no longer isolated to one stage. They are beginning to form a pattern, one that is becoming harder to ignore with each passing day.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" That perspective set the tone for what followed, as Horner turned his attention to Roglic\u2019s display on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[146942,4985,20996,20997,101,114367,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-564980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-chris-horner","tag-cycling","tag-primoz-roglic","tag-red-bull-bora-hansgrohe","tag-sports","tag-tour-de-romandie","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}