Primož Roglič has spoken about the arrival of Remco Evenepoel at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and their future partnership as co-leaders for the first time, hopeful that together they can close the gap to Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard.
Evenepoel and Roglič have been rivals in recent seasons, at both the Vuelta and Tour de France, but with the Belgian breaking his contract with Soudal-QuickStep a year early to join the German team, they could arrive at next year's race in tandem.
While this time of year would usually be Vuelta a España preparation time for Roglič, riding the Giro d'Italia and Tour means he is free to compete in criteriums such as the Profronde Etten-Leur in the Netherlands, where he commented on his soon-to-be teammate.
"I'm happy with his arrival; he's special. Remco has already won quite a few races, so I hope we can achieve great things together," said Roglič to Nieuwsblad and Indeleiderstrui.
With 11 months to go until the next edition of the French Grand Tour, Roglič was cautious to commit to a confirmation that they would both be at the Tour, as Red Bull could split the leadership at the three-week races in 2026. Third-place finisher at the Tour, Florian Lipowitz, will be the third GC option for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe.
"The Tour is still a long way off, the last one was only just finished, and it's not yet certain whether I can actually ride it next year," added the Slovenian. "But of course, we will work hard to achieve the best together.
"We still need to make progress, and hopefully we can improve together. The team is growing, but there's still a gap with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard."
Roglič was one of several big stars competing at the criterium in the Etten-Leur men's race, alongside fellow Tour stars Mathieu van der Poel, Ben Healy, Oscar Onley and Thymen Arensman.
