Primoš Roglic returned to training on the road last week for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in mid-October. The Slovenian underwent bone graft surgery to solve a long-standing shoulder problem.

"I hope to gradually resume training," Roglic told WielerFlits (opens in new tab). It's been eight weeks since my shoulder surgery. It's been eight weeks since my shoulder surgery.

"They removed a piece of bone and added it to that spot on my shoulder. In the first period after the surgery, I could barely move my arm. Now I still can't fully extend my arm."

Roglic abandoned this year's Tour de France at the end of the second week after dislocating his shoulder in a crash on stage 5 in Allenberg. He had dislocated his shoulder in a crash on the final Paris-Nice stage in 2021.

Jumbo Visma's bad luck continued at the Vuelta a España, where he crashed on the finish straight of stage 17, Monasterio de Tentudia, and abandoned the race. Since then, Roglic has not raced, and his shoulder has been immobilized for eight weeks after surgery.

"Luckily, I'm not a swimmer," he said. 'I've been cautiously resuming exercise over the past few weeks, including the occasional hour-long bike ride. Last week I had an exam and my doctor gave me permission to return to gentle outdoor cycling on my road bike."

Although Roglic is back on his road bike, his rehabilitation from surgery is still ongoing. He aims to attend Jumbo Visma's training camp next week in Denia, Spain, but his teammates admitted that he will be a little late.

"I hope to have another reasonably good race at the second training camp in January," said Roglic, who has yet to outline his 2023 race schedule.

Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard seems certain to return to defend his title in July, but the Giro d'Italia route, with its nearly 70 km of time trials, Logic is targeting the Corsa Rosa for the first time since finishing third overall in 2019. It remains to be seen if it will convince Rich.

Roglic regretted having to take nearly three months off the bike this fall, but added that the rest was not without merit.

"The forced rest has suddenly given me more time. I spent a lot of time preparing for events for my foundation and for this charity," he said.

"I ended up using the five to six hours I normally spend cycling every day for other purposes. And, of course, I spent a lot of time with my family."