Slovenian stranglehold is beatable, insist rivals

Roglic and Pogačar dominate Tour of the Basque Country, while rivals ponder how to beat them, reports Chris Marshall-Bell

-  Chris Marshall-Bell

Some of the main rivals of Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar insisted that the two Slovenians are beatable in the Tour de France, despite the pair finishing first and third at the Tour of the Basque Country.

In their first rematch since Pogacar spectacularly snatched last September’s Tour from his compatriot, Roglic claimed the 13th GC victory of his career in Spain’s cycling-mad region after a thrilling finale.

Across six suspenseful days, the Jumbo-Visma man won the opening time trial, questionably ceded leadership to Pogacar’s team-mate Brandon McNulty on the fourth stage, and then dramatically won it back on a brutal final day after attacking with 60km to go. “Today was just beautiful,” he said. “Everything went right and I had fun the whole stage.”