Primož Roglič ends season with shoulder surgery

This article originally appeared on Velo News

Primoz Roglic will undergo surgery for a long-suffering shoulder Monday.

Roglic confirmed to Slovenian radio that his season is done and the time has finally come to repair the shoulder he dislocated at the Tour de France in July.

“I need to fix this shoulder. It’s no secret that I already have several dislocations. I’m having surgery tomorrow afternoon,” Roglic told Val 202 radio.

“I don’t want to think about what that means right now, but it’s no small thing. They cut off a piece of your bone and move it to where the dislocation is happening. Only after six to eight weeks does passive exercise follow.”

Also read:

• Roglic exits Tour with injuries from Arenberg crash
  No broken bones or concussion, but Primoz Roglic leaves Vuelta a Espana in 'a lot of pain'

Roglic saw both his grand tour bids torpedoed by injury this summer, and has a history of race-ending falls.

His Tour de France entered its endgame after a heavy collision with a haybale on stage 5 into Arenberg. The crash saw him smash his back and dislocate his shoulder before relocating the joint himself. The Jumbo-Visma ace battled on 10 more days before leaving teammate Jonas Vingegaard to bring the long-awaited maillot to his team.

Two months later, a heavy crash deep in the final phase of the Vuelta a Espana left Roglic out of the race for red and unable to defend his title for the first time since he won in 2019.

“I have reached the point where I have to fix these injuries so that I can be even stronger and start preparing for new challenges in the new season,” he said. “I have to respect what they tell me. We will certainly do everything to get back on the bike as quickly as possible.”

Roglic remains under contract with Jumbo-Visma through 2025, but has a less certain space in his hugely ambitious team.

Victories at Paris-Nice and Criterium du Dauphine prove the 32-year-old is strong as ever, but the rise of Vingegaard and the end of a Vuelta reign reshapes the landscape at the Dutch squad. Wilco Kelderman comes on to the yellow and black crew in 2023 to leave Roglic even less room for leadership and puts the Slovenian in an even more uncertain place.

Rumors of a move to Ineos Grenadiers have been brushed aside and Roglic looks set to remain with the team he joined in 2016. But he’ll need to be fully fit and fixed to find his space.

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