Primoš Roglic (Red Bull-Bohra-Hansgrohe) was not paying attention to this week's Tour de France route announcement because he was concerned about the overwhelming dominance of Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and a crash that would trigger his retirement for three years It was because he had more important things to do: celebrate his 35th birthday.

When Tour de France organizers announced that next year's 112th edition would include two time trials and six mountain finishes, his concern may have been there. But the Tour de France yellow jersey has not fallen off the radar, and the four-time Vuelta a España winner and 2020 Tour de France runner-up continues to rise to the challenge of providing a reason to celebrate in July.

“I always want to win, obviously,” Roglic, who is in Japan ahead of the Tour de France Saitama Criterium, told a small group of reporters, including Cycling News, when asked if he could still win the Tour de France. He said, “But on the other hand, looking ahead to the next season, we're still trying to improve ourselves here and there and grow as a team in a couple of areas, and I think we'll be able to do that.

“I think we should consider that. Right now Tadej is really unbeatable or hard to compete with. But I don't know what's going to happen next year,” Logrich said, ”Maybe he'll be more ...... better,” he added.

In 2024, the 26-year-old Pogachar won his third overall Tour de France with his Giro d'Italia victory. His 25 UCI season wins included Il Lombardia, six stages each of the Tour and Giro, Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the UCI Road World Championships, where he was teammate of the Slovenian team. This record, and the race sense and power he displayed in achieving it, means that every time he competes in a race, he automatically moves up the list of potential winners.

However, Roglic noted that the tone of the UAE Team Emirates riders is an area where “we have no influence” and said he and his team will instead focus on areas of influence.

“But when it comes to myself, if I can be at my best, it's easy,” Roglic said.

The Red Bull-Bohler-Hansgrohe rider said it was too early to decide on a program for 2025.

He joked again that the best way to deal with Pogachar's dominance might be evasive tactics. But he quickly added, “No, I have no idea. Like I said, it's still the off-season, so I don't really want to think about it."

He added, ”I don't really want to think about it.

But he will get a taste of the Tour de France on Saturday in front of spectators far from Paris. The 61.2-km, 3.6-km course will be 17 laps long. The Tour de France green jersey winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché Wanty), 2023 points champion Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Desseuninck), and the Tour's all-time stage win record holder Mark Cavendish ( Astana Kazakstan) and others will compete.