The current yellow jersey of the 2020 Tour de France, Primož Roglič says there is nothing to hide and we can trust his performances to be credible, after another successful defence of his race lead on stage 15.
Heading into the second and final rest day, the Jumbo-Visma rider’s overall lead was shortened slightly to 40 seconds over Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who beat him in the sprint for the line, accumulating four more bonus seconds than his compatriot.
With defending champion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) losing seven minutes on the Grand Colombier summit finish, the yellow jersey now appears to be a two-horse race between the Slovenians, and Roglič says if he wins, it will be a result that will stand the test of time.
“They are doing a lot of controls,” Roglič said when asked whether there is anything to worry about in terms of his credibility, a question for all riders who look to be closing in on the yellow jersey.
“Today, a little after 6am, I had a full control, and then after [the stage].
“There is nothing to hide. At least looking from my side, you can definitely trust it.”
Jumbo-Visma set an infernal pace on a big mountain day, with Wout van Aert, the winner of two sprint stages at this year’s race, driving such a speed at the front of the peloton that he dropped Bernal, the Colombian eventually crossing the line 7-20 down on Roglič and Pogačar and out of GC contention.
“I don’t really need to tell them to go faster, they go fast enough,” Roglič said. “Everyone did their race perfectly, I’m really happy.”
Roglič admitted he was a “little short” in the sprint against Pogačar at the finish line, which saw his lead cut by four seconds, and said he would be happy to take his current 40-second buffer into the Planche des Belles Filles time trial on the penultimate stage before Paris.
“Of course every second gained is better,” he said.
