AGEN (AFP) – After two falls in the previous two days, Primoz Roglic withdrew from the Tour de France before yesterday’s 13th stage with his bid for the title in tatters ahead of a pair of daunting mountain stages this weekend.

Slovenian Roglic has won the Vuelta a Espana three times and the Giro d’Italia once, but is best known for losing the Tour de France with a final-day meltdown on a time-trial in 2020.

With another last gasp time-trial programmed in 2024, the 34-year-old was dreaming of redemption.

His team slept on a decision to race him or rest him after his late fall on Thursday.

When their bus pulled up for stage 13 at south-western town Agen yesterday, the mechanics prepared just the six bikes, and Roglic was the missing man. “The decision has been taken that he will not start today, to focus on upcoming goals,” his Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe team said.

“We wish you a speedy recovery Primoz,” they added.

Roglic entered this year’s Tour as one of four leading title contenders. He had left Visma after eight years to move to a team whose new sponsor, Red Bull, signed him to a generous three-year deal.

Hopes had been high after he won the warm-up race, the Criterium du Dauphine, in June.

“I changed team to try and win this Tour de France,” said the almost unrecognisable Roglic as he cracked jokes in Florence ahead of the Grand Depart on June 29.

On Thursday, an unlucky Roglic was caught in a tangled mess of bikes and screaming riders after a rival hit a traffic island. A similar fall forced him out of the 2021 Tour in week one.

Roglic dropped to sixth in the overall standings while his grazed and bloodied shoulder compromised a potentially merciless two days in the Pyrenees.

Before crashing on stage 12’s flat ride, Roglic trailed overall leader Tadej Pogacar by 2min 15sec.

At the end of the stage Roglic was 4min 42sec behind his compatriot Pogacar. “I heard the crash but didn’t look round. I was shocked by the bad news,” Pogacar said on Thursday.

“I’m really disappointed for him. It really sucks,” the 25-year-old added. Roglic finished fourth on the Tour de France in 2018 and second two years later. Roglic has already said he will not defend his Olympic time trial gold medal at this summer’s Paris Games.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin