Primož Roglič won't race the Tour de France in 2026, and will instead take aim at a record fifth Vuelta a España title, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe revealed on Wednesday in Mallorca.
The 2020 runner-up won't be back at cycling's biggest race as two younger, former podium finishers, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz, lead the German squad's general classification hopes in July.
Instead, Roglič will once again race the Spanish Grand Tour and, at 36, will be looking for his sixth Grand Tour overall victory, after racing a selective calendar in preparation.
Asked if it was a surprise to be left out of the Tour plans, Roglič was mature as ever and admitted a degree of realism was taken into account, despite winning the Tour remaining his biggest dream.
"Like I said, I would love it if you have it there to sign, and I can choose one race to win, I would sign the Tour de France," he told international media in Binissalem.
"I mean, it's not a secret, but as I said, the reality is different. The level that I was finishing was different, and the first point to consider about myself is how to find the way to be competitive and compete for the victory and focus my energy and everything only on that – the rest will follow.
"If you ask me straight, if for results, again, we are just speaking something, but you know, if I'm second in the GC of the Tour or winning the Vuelta, what will I choose? I [would] win the Vuelta, it's simple."
Roglič also confirmed that he hopes to continue racing past 2026, although it is a contract year for him at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, with no extension or potential move away announced yet.
Only Tirreno-Adriatico as a starting point and Itzulia Basque Country were confirmed on his race programme for now, but despite no planned racing with Evenepoel yet, Chief of Sports Zak Dempster told Cyclingnews "not to rule out" the superstar pair racing together in 2026.
"Honestly, I didn't have any meetings yet, but I spoke with Zak and Ralph yesterday to put out that I'm starting with Tirreno, then doing the Basque Country, and that's the start," said Roglič.
"You could start later, you can start sooner, so it's something in between, but it's good. It's the first real tester. I mean, all these races are hard, and I'm looking forward, actually, to be there and to see immediately where we are standing."
The route for the Vuelta is set to be revealed fully in a week on December 17, but Roglič knows what to expect when it comes to brutal stage finishes and tough hot weather in Spain, having triumphed at the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024 editions.
"We all know the Vuelta, although they haven't done the presentation yet, how hard hard it will be, because, I mean, normally we cannot expect an easy Vuelta, so it's just a question of how crazy hard it will be," he said.
In 2025, he raced the Giro-Tour double, but crashed out of the former and was outshone by teammate Lipowitz at the latter as he finished eighth overall on GC. Returning to the Vuelta gives him an opportunity to stand alone at the top of the leaderboard, as both he and Roberto Heras currently sit on four GC titles.
