Roglic wins first La Vuelta time trial and dons the red jersey

ROGLIC wins the first time trial in this year’s La Vuelta, starting out in Burgos, and takes the red jersey

Reigning double La Vuelta champion, the 31-year-old Slovenian cyclist, Primoz Roglic, showed today, Sunday, August 15, exactly why he won the gold medal in the recent Olympic time trial event in the Tokyo Olympics, with a monumental victory in the opening time trial in Burgos, over a 7.1km route that allowed him to don the red jersey yet again.

Roglic was relentless, took risks, and fulfilled the prognosis that he will win this event again this year, with a time of 8.32 minutes, at an average speed of 49.8 km, at the last minute he overtook the surprise package of Spain’s Alex Aranburu, eventually beating him to the finish line by six seconds.

Roglic had no mercy, breaking any illusions that the cyclist from Gipuzkoa may have had about winning, witnessing first-hand how the double champion of the Vuelta entered the finish line like a whirlwind, with fellow Slovenian, Jan Tratnik, some eight seconds behind.

Burgos Cathedral, in its VIII centenary – a World Heritage Site – was the starting line for this year’s La Vuelta, sending the pack out onto a 7,100 metre stage that began with the ascent to the castle, before entering the city centre, with few riders seemingly wanting to risk more than necessary on the first day.

The 25-year-old, Alex Aranburu, from Ezkio-Itsaso in Gipuzkoa, was phenomenal, riding at an average speed of more than 48kph, and could be a serious threat to the Slovenian champion if he can keep up this sort of condition in the level of heat that is being experienced in Spain right now.

Roglic, out to claim a third consecutive win in La Vuelta, after his disaster in the Tour de France, looked in a very positive frame of mind, and this first win will surely give him a huge boost in confidence for the next days, with the first proper stage coming up this afternoon, a 166.km route between Caleruega and Burgos Gamonal, as reported by malaghoy.es.

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