PLATEAU DE BEILLE (France) – Sitting in the flagship awaiting the general evacuation, Rolf Aldag puts together the pieces of a stage which saw four of the six riders in the breakaway Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe left in the race (Jai Hindley opening). For the team that had invested in Roglic for him to become the… third man, it was a pretty hard landingAfter losing the 2020 Tour in the final time trial, the Slovenian hasn't finished another. A crash always sends him home. The same goes for the 2022 Vuelta, to the point where one wonders why. Is it due to skill on the bike, positioning in the peloton, or chronic bad luck, the likes of which we've rarely seen.
Since there is no shortage of time, With the team's technical chief we begin a journey into the most recent days: those following Roglic's crash. First, a brief aside: he was also up here on July 22, 1998, when Pantani defeated his captain Ullrich in the yellow jersey for the first time in that Tour. Aldag was 30 then; today he's 55, and now he's telling the story.
«It took us two days to redefine ourselves – he explains – find new goals and then move on, because the Tour deserves a lot of respect as a race. And I also think that for the work the boys do at altitude, the days and months they spend away from their families, it is worth trying somethingIt's not easy, but it's worth trying."
How did you experience the day Roglic crashed?
He was close to the finish line. There's always a lot of tension in the car and I think on the bike too. Suddenly I saw him fall and when it's like that, it's never good.It was immediately obvious that it was a bad accident, so I was just hoping for the best. But when I saw that it took a while to get back up and start again, then all kinds of scenarios started to take shape in my head.
What were you thinking?
First of all, of course, I hoped he was okay. At that point it wasn't so much a question of time wasted in the rankings, but it was really about the personI hoped he wasn't in too much pain, that was all that mattered. It didn't matter if he lost 2-3 minutes.
They said that stretch was dangerous.
I think that there's no point in starting the blame game nowIt's a bit like you're asking me how difficult it is for organizers to create routes. If you want to end up in a city center, which I think everyone likes, how do you get there? You have to take a road and now roads are built to make traffic saferHaving traffic islands is fine 364 days a year; they really do something for traffic. But for that one day of the Tour de France, they're not good. So it's not easy, but I wouldn't say it was anyone's fault. ASOI think they do their best.
They talked about imperfect reporting.
Someone said this too, but it's not actually that anyone ran into itI think, unfortunately, Lutsenko was already on one side. Then his front wheel caught on that kerb and he fell on the other side. We should always look for the safest path, no doubt about it, but I think that's what they do today..
Hindley and Sobrero break away in the finale today: is this the plan for the next seven days?
For a moment we had four guys breakaway out of the six riders left in the race. So I think they played it very offensively and aggressively and that's what we wanted to do. I mean, If we wait for the moment when Vingegaard attacks today, we will never win anythingThis is very clear. So let's try to get the best, maintaining a positive mood and attitude. And that's what the boys did today.
Was today's escape planned or did it happen on its own?
It was all set up to launch Jai Hindley. For example, Nico Denz was there, certainly not on his wheel, but giving everything to gain the advantage and get the breakaway off to the air.Then Matteo (Sobrero, ed.) made a bridge and found himself in the breakaway with Hindley and Bob Jungels. In the valley before the finale they were absolutely sacrificing themselves to give Hindley a consistent lead. So I have great respect for the work they've done.
Was the decision to stop Primoz Roglic made by doctors, or was it to save his Olympics?
No, we as a team we are not really interested in the Olympics, But we're interested in the health of our people, and I think that's the priority. I don't even know the situation with the Olympics; I haven't seen the list of names, but that wasn't really our goal. Olympics or not, for us the goal was the Tour and now it's to have him back on the bike. Also keep in mind what happened after his accident…
What?
There was an intense day with a crosswind, where you have to have all your concentrationYou must have the switch on and a ready body. And with him it wasn't exactly like that., why take the risk? It wasn't really about future plans or anything. I think Primoz and his team, all of us enjoyed the Tour so much, that we will do whatever we can to stay there.
Has a program already been made for Roglic?
Not yet, we're not at that stage yet. I'm happy that he has some time with his family now.And I think it's important not to make hasty decisions. In any case, it's also important for him to get over the disappointment, gain some clarity, and then pursue new goals. But I repeat: this is not the time.
