Before, it was not possible to know, at least until signing with Bora-Hansgrohe it has not been made official. At that point, the ban on showing images was triggered, which will end on January 1st. However, after having won the Giro dell'Emilia and having come third in the Lombardy, Roglic had his first contacts with the men of the new team and began to discuss the materials with them.. And from there began the development of the Specialized with which he will race in 2024 (at the top, a photo by Paul Matthis).
On October 17th, ten days after the Lombardia and during the first training camp in Soelden, the positioning on the road bike was done with the Retul systemRoglic listened and then expressed his preferences. On the same occasion, the Cervélo measurements were transferred to the time trial bike.The next day, the Slovenian went out to test the new bike. Until on October 23, together with Hindley and a few others including sobrero, flew to California for the first tests in the Morgan Hill wind tunnelThe results obtained at Specialized will be will be verified in the coming weeks at the velodrome of Palma de Mallorca, on the occasion of the December retreat.
To guide us in this immersion of Roglic into the world of Specialized we asked for the support of Giampaolo Mondini, liaison man between the company and the teams, who has followed him so far and will continue to follow him in his next steps. The discussion begins with the Giro winner, but it's a good snapshot of how the WorldTour teams work today: at least those equipped with Specialized.
When someone like Roglic arrives, what's your approach? Do you start from the previous bike or start from scratch?
It depends a lot on the rider's predisposition, regardless of whether he is a great champion or anyone else. Retul's approach with professionals is always very personalYou have riders who have been in the same position for years and want to replicate it, without changing a thing. So when the position is made, if there's something wrong, we discuss it with the rider and the team's physiotherapist.
What can you do?
It is being evaluated if the position can be corrected with small adjustments, whether the rider feels up to it, or whether it's better to avoid it. This is the general discussion, then there are riders who perhaps have had falls or surgical operations and then the case gets complicated.
In what terms?
The position needs to be reevaluated. Because Maybe one has been identified for the recovery period from the injury and after a few months it needs to be checked, to see if it should not be updated (it comes to mind the Froome case(recently told, ed.) Falls are a delicate phase. Maybe the pelvis has tilted a little, so It might be helpful to go back and check that everything is in order.At the highest level, these riders crash a couple of times a year. Maybe they're not serious, maybe it doesn't seem like anything at the time, but maybe something happened skeletally...
Roglic returned from injury in 2023: have you seen him paying attention to these discussions?
I found a very motivated and open rider, really enthusiasticI was curious to understand our working method and this certainly helped us in our approach. Ultimately, we haven't changed much, but it must be said that In this first phase – changing the type of bicycle, changing the pedals, changing the shoes and changing the saddle – we always try not to touch the rest. Instead, when we go to Palma de Mallorca in early December, also based on the feedback that Primoz will give us, we will see if we can tweak something or if the rider himself has gone to change something in the meantime.
Are these things that happen?
In December, yes, even if everything is very different compared to before. Twenty years ago there were riders who rode with an Allen key and they intervened on anything at any time. Now they have been banned, From January the rider should not have the freedom to change position on the bikeThis is also to help him avoid problems and injuries. Sometimes you intervene because you're struggling more and you think it depends on the position and maybe you do double the damage. Especially because Sometimes you follow the advice of who knows who and make things worse. Fortunately, this habit has changed over the years and after January the bike remains the same. Even for the time trial, while It used to happen that you would see some people changing the height of their prostheses before leaving..
We'd be curious to know how you would have stopped Pantani from using his Allen key. He would have cut your throat!
The “Panta” (Mondini laughs, he was Marco's teammate in 2001, ed.) Valenciana stopped to adjust the studs during a stageHe sat down on a bollard and began to tinker. Meanwhile, we watched the group, which was fanning out at that moment, and we pulled our hair out. Luckily we were all strong enough and we even managed to fix it., but of course once upon a time (laughs again, ed.) certain situations happened…
Roglic gave you the 2023 roster and you replicated it?
However, he made the position with Retul, in which we tried to replicate as much as possible, perhaps giving our notes regarding some anglesWe give many riders their bikes in mid-October, right after they've done their fitting, knowing they'll get on them two or three weeks later, once their holidays are over. Roglic instead did the Retul and the next morning he was already outHe got some equipment and went to try out the bike.
What frame size did you give him?
An Tarmac Sl8 size M, a 54. Nothing special. Primoz is slightly stocky, so his legs are shorter than his torso. It has a 40cm wide integrated handlebar with a 12cm stem and 170cm crankset.We seemed very happy with the bike's setup, the first feedback was immediately very positive. He was also impressed by its lightness, the same goes for the time trial version.
He also uses 170mm cranks, it's the rule now...
There's this trend now, both for road bikes and time trials. In fact, almost everyone who does time trials seriously is looking for the 165s. Remco too. The 165 crank allows you to close your diaphragm more and lower your trunk more, without hitting yourself with your knee. Instead, it's not used to lower the bike. You can lower the seat tube, but the saddle height remains the same and there are no aerodynamic advantages.
At Morgan Hill, did you only work on the time trial bike?
Exact. And while on the road bike he didn't ask for anything, in this case he made some specific requests. He asked to try something specific in terms of height and elongation, on which the wind tunnel has provided some answers, which we will verify in the velodrome to understand if they are truly effective.
Do we also start from the previous one for the time trial bike?
From the old card and the old position, because otherwise you risk distorting the position too much. A very interesting thing that Primoz told me is that he uses the time trial bike even three times a week, but on the rollers, like triathletes do. Maybe he goes on the road first, then if he has to do an hour of changes in pace, he does it on the rollers. He explained to me that it's mainly a safety issue, because Time trial bike work is done at high speed and the streets of Monaco are not the most suitable..
Since he's very curious, he asked you about the race, would you intervene?
He's super helpful, very open. He relied on the team's advice. Besides that, it was amazing how he put himself in our hands. In one day, I think he spent 8 hours standing still in the wind tunnel.He never complained, so much so that at one point I asked him if he at least wanted to drink or eat something. And then he admitted that he was indeed thirsty and also hungry.
Since it required changes to the time trial position, did you develop a double setup so you could make comparisons?
We've made 3-4 positions. One will definitely be like the old one, and then others will be tested on the track. And then together. we also did a session on the leotards and the rest of the materialThe team is interested in this type of testing, and we're obviously fully available. Various types of equipment were brought and tested with all the riders to see if certain solutions are subjective or work for everyone.
If someone were to see Roglic out and about on the new bike, what materials did you give him?
For now, let's keep it simple. Low training wheels, I think he got the Alpinist, with 28 tiresIt's good that he uses the bike, so that in December we can do another development, to get to the setting he will race with in 2024. And in January you will also be able to see the photosFor now, we have avoided in every way that the name Roglic could be associated with that of Specialized.
