Primož Roglič Once Ruled the Vuelta a España, Now He’s Back for What Could Be His Last Dance

Primož Roglič returns to the 2026 Vuelta a España on Saturday as the biggest wild card of the season’s final grand tour.

At 36, Roglič rolls into Monaco short on racing, unsure of his form and future, and with Tadej Pogačar waiting for him at the height of his powers.

Even Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe is hedging its bets.

“Our main goal is to win a stage, and hopefully more than one if the opportunities are there. Our second major objective is the GC with Primož, but we have to be realistic because his preparation has been very different from what we originally anticipated after his crash,” lead sport director Sven Vanthourenhout said.

“We will assess things step by step. We will support him to achieve the best possible GC result, but we also have to be ready to adapt if necessary.”

Maybe the old Rogla is still in there.

Or maybe three weeks of bashing heads with Pogačar across 58,000 meters of climbing and seven summit finishes finally reveals the limits of those 36-year-old legs.

Not long ago, Roglič was part of cycling’s “Big 4.” These days, the grand tour conversation has largely moved on without him.

Then again, this is Roglič. You never quite know what’s coming.

Roglič brings mystery form into 2026 Vuelta

Nobody really knows which version of Roglič will roll down the start ramp Saturday, August 22, for the stage 1 time trial in Monaco.

A rested and dangerous Rogla? Or an aging gunslinger facing a peloton full of younger legs?

“I have a very good history with the Vuelta and I always enjoy racing there,” Roglič said. “Winning it four times is already something I could never have imagined, so I don’t want to put extra pressure on myself.”

For the first time, the four-time winner starts the Vuelta and nobody really expects him to win it.

He hasn’t raced since the Slovenian championships in June, when he won the time trial and finished fourth in the road race. An incident in July, when he was struck by a motorist while training, wiped out his planned Vuelta buildup at Clásica San Sebastián and the Vuelta a Burgos.

But Roglič is wildly unpredictable and stubbornly hard to kill off.

Maybe that’s why fans still love him. Roglič has spent half his career hitting the deck, brushing himself off, and diving straight back into the fight.

One more Vuelta showdown with Tadej Pogačar

And who’s waiting in Monaco? Pogačar.

Their first Vuelta together was in 2019. This one could be their last grand tour showdown.

Back in 2019, Roglič won his first Vuelta and announced himself as a grand tour force.

But standing with him on the final podium in Madrid was a skinny, 20-year-old kid named Tadej Pogačar, who won three stages and finished third in his grand tour debut.

We all know what happened next.

Less than a year later, Pogačar detonated the 2020 Tour de France with one of cycling’s great ambushes to crush Roglič in the final time trial at La Planche des Belles Filles and take yellow into Paris.

Roglič has been chasing that ghost ever since.

That Tour was supposed to be Roglič’s coronation. Instead, it launched the Pogačar era.

Seven years after that first Vuelta, they’re back.

Pogačar returns as the king of the sport, and Roglič faces a future up in the air.

Roglič turns 37 in October, his Red Bull contract expires at the end of 2026, and Belgian media has linked him to Lotto for next season.

So far, Roglič hasn’t said where he’s going, or even how much longer he wants to keep racing. Three weeks in Spain should tell us plenty.

Can Roglič reach Vuelta podium?

Even with a chance of winning a record fifth Vuelta crown, beating Pogačar would require something extraordinary.

The rest of the Vuelta GC field, however, gives Roglič a real opening for the podium in Granada on September 13.

Enric Mas, Oscar Onley, Felix Gall and Mattias Skjelmose all have legitimate podium ambitions, but Roglič has beaten deeper fields than this.

The big question mark is his form. Roglič has posted videos training in the Alps and he sounds optimistic.

“We will take it day by day, do everything we can as a team and try to achieve the best possible outcome,” Roglič said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Seven years after Madrid, Pogi and Rogla meet again.

King Pog arrives widely tipped to add the one grand tour still missing from his palmarès and burnish his GOAT credentials.

Roglič returns to the grand tour he once ruled, trying to squeeze out some of the old magic one more time.

Roglič doesn’t need another podium to prove anything. But he’s a racer, and he isn’t coming to the Vuelta just to fill a spot on the roster.

It might be his last dance, but don’t count Roglič out just yet.