Tadej Pogacar is currently unbeatable. That's why his compatriot Primoz Roglic is riding the races that the cycling superstar is skipping.

Primoz Roglic has been a rare sight this season. The 35-year-old has only been seen on twelve race days so far, at the tours of the Algarve and Catalonia. He didn't start the Paris-Nice race, nor the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, which he once won. Furthermore, he hasn't participated in a single one-day race. He's subordinated everything to his goal of a Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double.

Unlike his compatriot Tadej Pogacar, who had already racked up victory after victory in preparation for his 2024 double , Roglic was only able to draw limited confidence from his start to the season: Although he defeated Juan Ayuso, his presumed main rival for the Giro, in Catalonia, his start to the Tour of the Algarve was a complete failure, finishing eighth in the standings and not finishing in the top three for a single day.

Even in the time trial, his specialty, he couldn't get beyond twelfth place. And his team, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, which had started out with great ambitions, has also fallen short of expectations this year, achieving only nine victories so far. The team hasn't managed a single podium finish in the Classics – despite some notable additions. More headlines have been made by harakiri maneuvers like that of Belgian Jordi Meeus, who took the shortcut over the curb in the Gent-Wevelgem race, knocking down numerous competitors, and not even receiving a warning.

Despite this misery, Roglic outwardly shows no signs of being uneasy. The former ski jumper is known for his poker face and dry humor, behind which he is able to hide his mood. Before the Giro, he merely provided the media with a pleasant anecdote from his early days as a cyclist.

While his new teammate and compatriot Jan Tratnik raved about Roglic as a super-strong amateur who had already left his professional training group behind in 2012, Roglic preferred to admit his doubts at the time: "The start that year was crazy. Their team definitely looked very professional, exactly the kind I wanted to be. On a training ride in February, it was still very cold, but I didn't know what to wear. So I took whatever I could grab. The others only had socks over their shoes. In training, I quickly fell behind. I remember they were going 30 kilometers per hour, and I thought: I can't hold it. Why on earth am I doing this? Maybe this isn't such a good idea?" Roglic said at the altitude training camp on Teide. Radenska's team from back then is now called Pogi Team Gusto Ljubljana - because Tadej Pogacar also joined them later as a teenager.

Well, Roglic held on back then. Thirteen years later, he can look back on a total of 91 victories, including one Giro victory and four Vuelta victories. He has achieved at least one overall victory in World Tour stage races for eight consecutive years. Only Miguel Indurain is better in this regard, with a streak of nine consecutive years.

Pogacar, 28, currently trails Roglic in this category. And the older of the two Slovenians can also claim to have collected the most leader's jerseys in World Tour races this century—140, to be exact. Even serial winners like Chris Froome or Pogacar can't keep up with that.

Roglic's consistent performance at a high level speaks for itself. And there's little reason to claim that the 35-year-old has already passed his peak. "We hear from the performance team that his numbers are still improving. So we haven't reached the peak, from where things can only go downhill," said his team's sporting director, Rolf Aldag.

Roglic himself doesn't see his career ending anytime soon either. "When I listen to myself, I feel like I'm twenty," he said. His goal for the Giro is to at least reach the level of performance he achieved during his last Vuelta victory in 2024.

At that time, he also changed his strategy: He usually won tours thanks to his explosiveness through uphill sprints and the bonus seconds they provided. Last year in Spain, however, he had to overcome a huge deficit to Australian Ben O'Connor, which forced him to attack earlier.

He demonstrated how well he's now integrated long solo rides ahead of the peloton into his tactical repertoire in March during his roaring ride at the Tour of Catalonia, which earned him the overall victory. "The younger riders are forcing us older riders to adapt. In the past, Grand Tours were all about conserving energy. But now, things really get going from day one, with 100 kilometers to go," he said of the changed situation in the tours, to which Roglic's compatriot Pogacar has contributed significantly with his numerous attacks.

Roglic ironically mentioned the best strategy for achieving success in the Pogacar era this winter: "You have to look at his competition calendar and then go to the races he avoids." That's exactly what Roglic is doing at the Giro. Last year's winner, Pogacar, isn't registered for the event.

And he's skipping the Vuelta this year, which Roglic could win for the fifth time – which would make him the record holder. Pogacar, however, plans to compete there. So Roglic is concentrating on what "Pogi" has left before attempting the Tour de France again. Starting there as the Giro winner would take the pressure off his shoulders, or so Roglic calculates.

But first he has to make it through the Albanian mountains, survive the gravel sections of the "little Strade Bianche" on the 9th stage and then, in the tough third week, keep his rivals at bay on the long ramps, including the Mortirolo (17th stage) and the Colle delle Finestre (20th stage).

At his side, he has former Giro winner Jai Hindley and last year's overall runner-up Dani Martínez. Should Roglic falter, these would be the second and third options for the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team to win the only Grand Tour that Pogacar is missing this year.