Primož Roglič remains calm and proud of his Tour de France hopes despite the uphill challenges

“Can I have some water? I don’t always drink Red Bull these days,” Primož Roglič asked his press staff, grinning quietly to indicate he was joking about his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team’s newest sponsor. And that was just one of many moments of gentle humor during a Tour de France rest day press conference where reading the protagonist’s underlying mood music was, to say the least, not easy.

On the positive side, Roglič is currently fourth overall at 1:36, the worst position of any of the four top favourites ahead of the race, his critics will point out. But on the other hand, it also means the Slovenian star is in his best overall position on a first Tour rest day since he wore yellow on stage 9 in 2020, coming out of the Pyrenees.