BERGAMO — Primož Roglič has admitted it is "possible" Saturday's Il Lombardia will be the final race of his decorated career, with his future beyond Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe still undecided. The five-time Grand Tour winner, who turns 37 later this month, is coming to the end of his three-year spell with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and spoke open-endedly about what comes next behind the stage at the team presentation in Bergamo on Friday evening.
"You never know when is the last one," Roglič said. "Like everything in life, it can be a bit emotional. I'm looking forward [to the race]." Asked if he will continue to race next year, he said: "I don't know it yet. We will see. We will see." When asked if he wanted to continue, he added: "I think so, yes. I think I will still race."
Roglič still needs to find and settle on a team for 2027, a highly unusual position for a rider of his stature at this point in the year. He has been linked with Tudor Pro Cycling, Lotto-Intermarché and Pinarello-Q36.5 in recent reports from Daniel Benson's Cycling Substack and Het Laatste Nieuws, but left the door open. Asked if Lombardia could be his last race, he said: "I think also possible yeah, you know, why not? We will see. I'm not worried. It's life. We will see." He also revealed his motivation to continue, saying a fifth Vuelta a España title would have seen him stop. "You know, if I win the Vuelta for sure I would be out," he said. "But like this, it's a bit... it's still for me... you know... I want to finish it on a [high]."
The late-season form has been a revelation after a tough couple of seasons in which he looked to be a fading force. Despite crashing ahead of the Vuelta a España and ruining his preparation, he finished runner-up. He then lit up the World Championships road race, finished 10th at the European road race and earlier this week added to his palmarès with the European time trial title.
"It's more difficult. It's just more and more difficult to really find or do the right thing," Roglič said. "The moment or the reality is I'm here; tomorrow I have a race. I have to do first things first, so first the racing and then I can speak about it and try to figure it out – when and how it can look, my future."