With just over a week to go until the 2024 Vuelta a España begins in Lisbon, the question mark over three-time winner Primoz Roglic's participation shows no sign of disappearing.

The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe leader crashed on stage 12 of the Tour de France, fracturing a vertebra in his lower back.

Although he was named on the provisional start list for this Saturday's hilly Clasica San Sebastián and posted a private mountain training session on Instagram, he was not guaranteed a place in the Basque country's only WorldTour one-day race, and on Friday, the 34-year-old was not on the team's definitive list.

"Primozh is still not in good shape," sport director Patsy Vila told El Diario Vasco on Wednesday before the decision was made not to compete in San Sebastian. He still has pain in his back after his crash in the Tour."

"He can train, but not with much intensity, and I don't know if it makes sense to bring him [to San Sebastian] in that condition."

After it became clear that Roglic would not compete in the Clásica, the even bigger question of his participation in the Vuelta a España remains unresolved. The Spanish sports newspaper AS claimed Friday morning that Vuelta race organizers were still optimistic about Roglic's participation, noting that Roglic was included on the preliminary start list. However, that is also the case in San Sebastián, and according to AS, a final decision on whether or not Roglic will compete in his sixth Vuelta will not be made until early next week.

The presence of Roglic, the only one of the "big four" in the Grand Tour race still in contention, will be a major boost to the start list for the Vuelta a España. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Ries-a-Bike) and Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), who have both been on the podium at the Vuelta, have stated that they will not compete at the Tour de France, while Remco Evenpole (Soudal-Quick Step), who won the 2022 edition outright never made a second Grand Tour in the 2024 program.

Roglic, who is highly regarded by Spanish fans for his performance in his home Grand Tour, is the most successful rider in the current peloton for the Vuelta a España.

Roglic won the Vuelta three times from 2019 to 2021, and last year he took third overall and two stage wins, including a victory at the infamous Angliru. The only modern-day peloton to come close to Roglic's Vuelta record is Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech), a two-time overall winner and two-time runner-up, but it has already been confirmed that the Englishman will not race this year.

If Roglic wins the Vuelta, the Slovenian will tie the record held by retired Roberto Heras, who won his home Grand Tour in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Cyclingnews has reached out to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe for comment.

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