Bankruptcies and falls: The unlucky Primoz Roglic

“At the moment I'm happy that I'm still there. I can't look far into the future. I have to take it day by day,” said Roglic after his bitter mishap on the cobblestones of northern France. The 32-year-old was actually doing well in the race. But a TV motorcycle hit the bale of straw laid out for safety at the exit of a roundabout. The sprinter Caleb Ewan fell, and Roglic made a spectacular headfirst jump over the handlebars right behind him. As if the story wasn't bizarre enough, a little later Roglic's entire team raced past with Jonas Vingegaard, who had previously been thrown back. “But we just didn’t see Primoz,” said the visibly shaken Wout van Aert.

They couldn't see him either. Roglic was sitting on a spectator's chair on the side of the road and dislocated his shoulder after he fell. He said in his typical sober manner that he had a special technique. How much this affects him will be shown especially by the mountain finish on Friday on the Super Planche des Belles Filles. In any case, Roglic started on Thursday.

Primoz Roglich dislocated his own shoulder. © ANSA / GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO

However, his dream of his first Tour victory has already shattered. Roglic lost more than two minutes to his compatriot Tadej Pogacar. And even if the defending champion should weaken, there are too many other strong riders in the rankings who are still in between. Roglic will have to get used to being a helper for the young Dane Vingegaard from now on. It will be another tour of suffering for Roglic. So close yet so far Two years ago, the former ski jumper was ready to win the tour for the first time. Roglic went into the decisive time trial on the penultimate day as the leader, just under a minute ahead of Pogacar. The fight against the clock up to the Planche des Belles Filles was to be Roglic's first tour disaster. With a pale face and a special helmet that was completely askew, he reached the finish - almost two minutes slower than Pogacar, and the overall victory was lost.

Roglic picked himself up again, won the Tour of Spain for the second time in the fall and launched a new attack on Tour victory. The hope for yellow lasted until the third stage. There the Italian Sony Colbrelli swerved, forcing Roglic off the road. He landed so badly in a bed of gravel that he tore his butt, his back and his entire left side. Photos of Roglic fully bandaged became a hit on social media.

Two days later, Roglic delivered another solid time trial. But the torment kept getting worse. Roglic dropped out on the first day of rest. In the fall he won the Tour of Spain again. He is now slowly running out of time to achieve his goal of winning the Tour. While the young professionals Pogacar (23) and Vingegaard (25) can still improve, things are going in the other direction for Roglic, who is almost a decade older.

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Bankruptcies and falls: The unlucky Primoz Roglic

Primoz Roglic certainly couldn't have imagined that a slipped bale of straw would cost him victory in the Tour de France. Although the story somehow fits with the Slovenian's relationship to the largest cycling spectacle in the world. A story with a few bankruptcies and a lot of bad luck.

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