SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (AP) — Primoz Roglic was barely off his bike before someone shoved a beer in his hand, a welcome way to savor his third consecutive Spanish Vuelta title.
The Slovenian and his Jumbo-Visma teammates then donned shirts to mark the moment.
“Trilogic,” it read, for the trilogy of titles Roglic now has at Spain’s Grand Tour.
Roglic dominated this year’s race as few have. He won four stages, proved unbeatable both in time trialing and the mountains, and built a final gap over runner-up Enric Mas that hadn’t been seen this century.
His winning margin of 4 minutes, 42 seconds over Mas was the largest at the three-week race since 1997.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s crazy,” Roglic said. “Sometimes, you win by a lot, sometimes it’s very little. But as long as you can win, it’s good.”
Roglic entered Sunday’s final stage, a time trial of 34 kilometers (21 miles) from Padron to Santiago de Compostela, with an already comfortable advantage of 2:38 over Mas. But instead of just riding to avoid a title-threatening crash, Roglic did what he had done all race: he went for the win as if each stage was a race in itself.
The 31-year-old Roglic completed a fantastic rebound from his disappointing Tour de France, where he was supposed to be Tadej Pogacar’s biggest rival but ended up withdrawing from the race after suffering two crashes in the early stages.