MY interest in the Tour of Spain evaporated on that fearsome mountain top finish a few days from the end, when Grand Tour super star Primus Roglic took back the race leader’s red jersey from Aussie Ben O’Connor.
And I switched off the tv and made a cuppa.
How come?
Well, I had taken a dislike to Roglic the year before, when he
lost the Vuelta to his worthy teammate, the American Sepp Kuss, the domestique who
found himself in the lead in the early stages of the race and surprised and
delighted us all by defending like a true champion to take the greatest win of
his career.
Except his team mates Roglic and Vinnegard, the designated t
eam leaders, took exception to their “servant” upstaging them and attacked him
for two solid days on the trot. To no avail.
Kuss held firm. The team then rallied to support him and he
became a most deserving Vuelta champion a few days later.
Although Vinnegard appeared to accept this, and looked genuinely
pleased for Kuss, Roglic could barely conceal his discomfort. He had the look
of a man who feels entitled. I don’t like that.
On an earlier mountain stage in this year’s Vuelta Roglic
opted to change to a bike with lower gears. In chasing back to the peloton he
and two teammates took pace from their
team car, and did so for longer than the commissaire thought was right and
proper.
Justice was done, however, in that the time Roglic took back
from O’Connor was wiped out by the time penalty imposed for taking shelter
behind the car!
Roglic has now four times won the Vuelta.
As for O’Connor, he finished a proud second on the podium in
Madrid on Sunday and said that to him second place felt like win.
Good for you, Ben.
You rode like a champion.
