Roglic leads the Jumbo Visma trio at the Tour de France

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Roglic leads the Jumbo Visma trio at the Tour de France

Primoš Roglic will have another chance to win the Tour de France in 2021. Jumbo Visma will once again team up with Roglic, a two-time winner of the Vuelta a España.

Logrich finished second in the 2020 Tour de France after Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) dashed his hopes of the yellow jersey in the final time trial, but Jumbo-Visma will have Tom Dumoulin and Steven Kruijswijk With Tom Dumoulin and Steven Kruijswijk on his side, he will be looking for his third Grand Tour win of the season.

Jumbo-Visma announced its Tour lineup months ago last year and repeated the move this year, announcing an eight-rider team at a training camp in Spain on Friday.

The rest of Jumbo-Visma's team for the Tour de France includes 2020 two-stage winner Wout Van Aert, Tony Martin, Sepp Kuss, Robert Gesink, and 2019 Tour stage winner and yellow jersey wearer Mike Tunissen included.

The Tour de France will start in Brest on June 26 and arrive in Paris on July 18. George Bennett will lead Jumbo Visma in the Giro d'Italia in May, while Kuss and Kruijswijk will compete in the Vuelta a España later in the season.

Roglic is also targeting the Ardennes race, which could be a possibility if the Olympics are held.

"Usually we start from Paris-Nice. It's a pretty slow start, but at the same time we planned it the same way last year," Roglic said from his home in Monaco.

"Hopefully the first race goes well and we can start with Paris-Nice. Then I will go to the Basque Country and take on new challenges in the spring races like Amstel, Flèche (Wallonne), and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"The Olympics is a big goal and it only happens every four years. Road racing is quite challenging and it would be fun to be part of that."

The highlight of Roglic's season, however, is the Tour.

"The plan is for everyone to participate in the Tour at the highest possible level. And then we see who ends up being the strongest. Studying the route is really important. We don't know because we haven't done time trials or reconsultations of other stages, but we're going to prepare as best we can."

"With three of us, we can give the other riders more things to do. If Tom or Kruijswijk can do something, the others need to move. We just need to keep the race moving in our direction."

Team director Merijn Zeeman explained the team's plans for this season, when Dumoulin will tackle several cobbled classics, including the Tour de Flanders for the first time, and stressed that the team has more than just this Tour to focus on.

"It would be great to win the Tour de France, but for me the process is also important and I know the moment will come.

Team manager Richard Plagge has set his sights high: winning the Tour de France.

"We have unfinished business in France, but 2020 was an incredible year. The hurdles are high, but we need to jump over them and challenge ourselves again this year."

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Despite the heavy losses in 2020, the Slovenian remains one of the most consistent riders in the peloton and is ranked #1 on the World Tour for a reason.

Since 2018, he has not finished lower than fourth in the last five Grand Tours, and his ability to bounce back from last year's Tour loss allowed him to finish the campaign with another big gain. the 2021 route looks ideal for him and his team, but one concern is the final time trial.

The Dutchman Dumoulin moved to Jumbo Visma to compete in the Tour de France in 2020, but Roglic's consistency prevented him from doing so.

Dumoulin remains a very talented rider and, barring a couple of other WorldTour teams, he would have been considered the main leader, but he will likely be running as Plan B for the second year of the Tour.

The route definitely favors a fully fit Dumoulin over Roglic, but Jumbo Bisma is backing the Slovenian all-rounder at this point. However, as we saw when the Tour was held last year, a lot can happen between now and July, or even before the Tour actually takes place.

Kruijswijk missed the Tour de France due to a crash and injury in last year's Criterium du Dauphiné, but this experienced rider will again be given some protection to provide needed cover in the mountains and an additional weapon to neutralize many important rivals and their teams. A protected role would be given to him.

The 33-year-old is also in a contract year and raced only 16 days last year, so it will be interesting to see how his battle unfolds leading up to the Tour.

The Belgian has recently pledged his long-term future to the team and will undoubtedly be a force on the Classics stage for years to come. Given his ability to balance the demands of the super-domestiques with his thirst for stage wins, it is no surprise that he has been selected for the Tour de France.

If there is a TTT on the route, Van Aert would be another star of the Jumbo-Visma, but there is still enough terrain for the Milan-San Remo winner to make a serious GC run.

The American climber shined in the mountains last year as Roglic's last helper, finishing 15th in his Tour debut. He has formed a strong partnership with Roglic over the past four Grand Tours, including two Vuelta victories.

This will be the veteran's 10th Tour de France, and although his GC exploits have been overshadowed, the 34-year-old is one of the most consistent and hardworking climbers in the modern peloton.

At last year's Tour and again at the Vuelta, Gesink showed that he can be relied upon on the flats and small climbs. His experience is second to none on the team, and at least one more time, he will have the edge over the younger climbers.

Now in his third year on the team, Martín looks like a piece of furniture on the Jumbo-Visma and has established himself as the most reliable domestique on the flats.

His role in the opening week is crucial for the team to protect Logric from the conditions and terrain, but it is in the mid-mountain region where Martin can absorb as much pressure as possible before giving way to the team's freshers.

No disrespect to Amund Grondahl Janssen, who had a great performance last year and did a lot of the work that the TV cameras don't often cover, but Tunissen is an upgrade in terms of his ability and versatility.

The 28-year-old was something of a forgotten quantity in 2020, having only raced a total of 15 days due to a knee injury, but the season before that was a breakthrough year with a Tour stage win, a yellow day win, and numerous other victories.

Like Van Aert, his main focus this spring will be on the Classics, but given the route of the first week of the Tour and the ability to cover both GC and stage hunting, his entry into the Tour is a wise decision.

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