Featured image courtesy of gettyimages
The finale to the last Grand Tour of 2021 was not your usual processional ride into Madrid. Instead the 76th Vuelta has finished with a noncompetitive time trial in Santiago de Compostela, the result inevitable. What we have witnessed – not just on Stage 21 but across the three weeks – is a rider who’s performance has been exceptional without any sign of weakness. Primož Roglič now has a hat-rick of Vuelta titles but how did he do it and what other talking points should be mentioned from this latest edition of La Vuelta?
There are three reasons why Primož Roglič has won another Grand Tour: the Vuelta isn’t the Tour, he’s barely had any competition and the shorter punchier climbs suit him to the max. This third red jersey in a row was a performance that oozed confidence. Roglič was right to lend the red jersey to Odd Christian Eiking for seven stages to take some pressure away and all the plaudits must go to Jumbo-Visma, Robert Gesink, Lennard Hofstede and Sepp Kuss have been the three main domestiques to help Roglič all the way from start to finish.
The way Primož Roglič has sealed this latest success is something to behold but did you know that the Slovenian used to be a ski jumper? It’s now cliche just like the usual ‘Geraint Thomas has crashed…again’ but such is the reminder that Primož Roglič is a former ski jumper makes this all the more incredible. The way he celebrates with his signature ski jump pose is a sign in itself as to how casual it all looks. Cycling is the world’s toughest sport and this former ski jumper turned professional cyclist is taking it all in his stride. Ten years ago he was flying off on the skis like Eddie the Eagle and now he has just raced over 3,000 km and won a third Vuelta title.
On Stage 1, the opening time trial in Burgos, we already got the first sign as to how dominant Primož Roglič would be at this Vuelta. In complete control he has taken four stage wins, a further four second-placed stage finishes and 11 days in red. It’s amazing really when yes not many have been able to stop him across the 21 stages but that still shouldn’t downplay the impressive manner he has stormed to another Vuelta title.
Even before wheels touched the tarmac, this Vuelta had a two-up top attack plan from the Ineos Grenadiers, both Egan Bernal as Giro champion and Adam Yates as a card to play, Movistar too had a double leader line-up with Enric Mas and Miguel Ángel López plus Bahrain-Victorious had a plan with Mikel Landa, Jack Haig and Gino Mäder. None of these riders got anyway near our winner. They no doubt tried but a margin of victory at almost five minutes, it’s a dominant triumph for Roglič.
Yet why are we surprised? Primož Roglič is the best stage racer in the world right now and the facts speak for themselves. Since taking overall victory at Itzulia Basque Country in 2018, the Jumbo-Visma man (the team who has supported him since) has raced in 16 stage races, winning 11 of them. In the last six Grand Tours he has competed in, Primož Roglič has finished fourth and second at the Tour, third at the Giro once and now three consecutive places on the top step in Spain.
History has been made. Only nine riders have ever won Grand Tours in three consecutive seasons and only two have taken the Vuelta three times in a row – Robero Heras and Tony Rominger. It’s a new legacy for others in the future of the sport to try and replicate but whether anyone can repeat what Primož Roglič has achieved is another question for another day.
This victory cannot be discounted as nothing less than extraordinary, but there’s a cloud that still hangs over his head and Jumbo-Visma as a whole. In cycling some victories are not equal to others. Winning one of the five Monuments in your career is a feat, cycling is so hard, it really isn’t fair to dismiss any victory a rider takes. For a Monument, Primož Roglič has one in the bank – Liège–Bastogne–Liège 2020 – a win that will always be his but just like La Doyenne not being the same as Paris-Roubaix, La Vuelta, indeed three red jersey’s in a row, does not make a Tour de France. Until Roglič wins the yellow jersey he won’t be a cycling great, it’s savage to say so, but it’s sadly true. Three weeks in blistering hot conditions up and down mountains in Spain is by no means easy but three times in red doesn’t make one yellow jersey. In that sense, even before this Vuelta began, we absolutely know that the aim for Primož Roglič will be in 2022 – winning his first Tour.
Away from Primož Roglič’s impressive victory, what else deserves a mention from this 76th Vuelta?
If it wasn’t for his achilles heel being the time trial, Team Bahrain Victorious’s Jack Haig might have beaten Enric Mas to second-place. Both the Australian and the Spaniard are decent time trialists but not against Roglič. It has been a superb Vuelta for Haig, for Mas it is now his second runner’s-up spot at his home Grand Tour. What a podium place for Jack Haig will do is give him huge amounts of confidence in a team that has plenty of star names within its roster. Crashing out at this year’s Tour after just three stages was a sorry sight but for Haig to bounce back in Spain will be satisfying for him personally and the team.
For the Ineos Grenadiers this was not the worst Grand Tour they’ve ever ridden but given their enormous budget, this Vuelta has bookended a slightly disappointing season. Expectations are high and not performing at the Tour for a second year in a row has rasied questions. Egan Bernal taking the Giro overall has been the highlight but at this Vuelta he has little to come away with. Adam Yates was active when it mattered but the loss of new Olympic champion Richard Carapaz way before reaching Stage 21 was a blow.
Intermarché-Wanty Gobert should be happy with their Vuelta, after Rein Taaramäe’s stage win and subsequent stint in red and then Odd Christian Eiking’s longer run in the leader’s jersey. The Belgian team are the underdogs in the UCI World Tour team status but they should be proud for how well they’ve raced at this Vuelta.
Romain Bardet should take comfort for racing hard and back to his best, Michael Storer taking two stages should be comended and in the sprints Fabio Jakobsen has taken three and Jasper Philipsen two. Magnus Cort (below) taking a trio of stages were also a triumph in team work at EF Education-Nippo, who did lose Hugh Carthy early on in the race.
The Vuelta is always an opportunity to salvage something from the season and as Grand Tour season is now over, both Primož Roglič and riders from a selection of teams have taken advantage. A history maker and three weeks of exciting racing, the big question for next year’s Vuelta – will Roglič target a fourth title on the back of a first Tour de France yellow jersey?
