Gall 29th overall

Roglic triumphs for the fourth time at the Vuelta

Primoz Roglic won his first "Grand Tour" with Red Bull Bora-hansgrohe.

(Bild: AFP or Licensors)

Primoz Roglic was not to be denied his triumph at the Vuelta a Espana. The Slovenian from Red Bull Bora-hansgrohe was only beaten by Switzerland's Stefan Küng in the 24.6 km time trial of the final 21st stage in Madrid on Sunday and celebrated again after 2019, 2020 and 2021. 

Primoz Roglic and the Vuelta - a perfect match! The Slovenian clinched overall victory at the Tour of Spain on Sunday. It was the 34-year-old's fourth success in the Grand Tour on the Iberian peninsula. He also equaled the record held by Roberto Heras. "Four victories - that's crazy," grinned "Rogla", who finished second behind Swiss rider Stefan Küng in the final time trial in Madrid. In the overall standings, he extended his lead over the long-time leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon), finishing 2:36 minutes ahead of the Australian. Third overall was the Spaniard Enric Mas (+3:13).

On Friday, Roglic from the Red Bull team had reclaimed the overall leader's red jersey from O'Connor. With a strong team performance, the cycling star triumphed on the Alto de Moncalvillo and started Sunday's time trial with a lead of almost two minutes over O'Connor. He did not make a similar slip-up to 2020 this time. Back then, he was beaten by his compatriot Tadej Pogacar on the penultimate stage of the Tour de France and lost the Tour in the process. In the absence of Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, he lived up to his status as favorite.

For his Bavarian-Salzburg team, Roglic's next Spanish coup brought a conciliatory end to a more than mixed summer. Red Bull suffered several setbacks at the Tour de France after the energy drink manufacturer entered the race. First Roglic, one of four favorites to win the Tour, suffered defeats against the strong competition around the eventual winner Tadej Pogacar. The captain had to end the Tour after twelve stages due to crashes. The ambitious team finished the Tour of France without a stage win of their own.

All the disappointment of the results in France seemed to evaporate on Sunday evening. Roglic stretched his arms into the Madrid night sky and cheered, but also showed great humility: "You have to make a lot of sacrifices. Not just me, but also my family and the people around me. We all live for it."

The podium of the Vuelta: O'Connor, Roglic and Mas (from left).

(Bild: REUTERS)

The jubilation at Team Red Bull Bora-hansgrohe was huge.

(Bild: EPA)

Gall had a share
For Felix Gall, the Vuelta premiere ended 1:42 hours behind in 29th place. The fact that Austria's athlete of the year, who had a share in the second place of his team-mate O'Connor, finished eleventh on Saturday, unlike in the days before, did not help. On Sunday, he finished 125th in the time trial, 4:28 minutes off the pace.

The two other Austrians who had started the Vuelta did not finish at all. Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) had to abandon the race on August 28 due to a coronavirus infection, while Roglic's teammate Patrick Gamper was only forced to retire before the final stage. Like several of the team's riders, he was brought to his knees by a viral infection.