Roglic calls for talks with Evenepoel ahead of 2026 season

For the Olympic time trial champion, Rwanda is a chance to test himself after eight weeks without racing, but also to meet a rider who will soon reshape the balance of power in his trade team. 

“We haven’t spoken yet, but I want to sit down with him,” Roglič said of Remco Evenepoel in an interview with Slovenian daily Delo. “I think it is very important for us to build an open and honest relationship from the start.”

Roglič arrived at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in 2024 as the clear leader of the new Red Bull-backed project. A year on, the picture is more complicated. Florian Lipowitz climbed onto the Tour de France podium, Jai Hindley placed fourth at the Vuelta, and 21-year-old Giulio Pellizzari produced two top-six Grand Tour finishes. Roglič, by contrast, was forced out of the Giro through illness and struggled in July’s Tour.

Evenepoel’s signing only adds to the questions over leadership in 2026. Roglič admitted that there has been “no conversation within the team yet about what will happen next season,” but his remarks echo comments in August, when he described Evenepoel as “a special guy” and welcomed the move while acknowledging that the team still trails Jonas Vingegaard and Pogačar in the biggest races.

Earlier this week, Roglič gave a typically understated assessment of his task for Slovenia in Kigali. “We just have to give him space so that we don’t get in his way too much,” he told Slovenian outlet 24ur.com. A year ago he was part of the guard that helped Pogačar to the rainbow jersey in Zurich. Once again he accepts that his role will be secondary.

Roglič plays down his own chances for Sunday at the Worlds road race, though he left the door open to a bold showing. “I probably will not ride ten more World Championships, so if I do not try, I will never know what is possible. Slovenia has nine riders at the start, which is a special honour. We will give everything we have.”

His build-up has been far from perfect. “I did some long training rides, but otherwise I followed my usual routine. That has worked for me in stage races, and we will see if it works for a one-day race like the Worlds. The travel is not ideal either. I leave Spain on Thursday and arrive in Rwanda only on Friday. It is a risky plan, but it was the only way to prepare for this race,” Roglič said.

Whatever his role on Sunday, Rwanda offers another stage for Roglič to show that predictability has never been part of his story.