SURFACE TENSION

“OUR BONDS HAVE BEEN FORGED LITTLE BY LITTLE”

This is how Tadej Pogacar described his relationship with Primož Roglic in an interview he conducted with L’Equipe in September of last year after the younger Slovenian snatched the yellow jersey away from his older countryman in a dramatic final time trial on La Planche des Belles Filles. It was one of the most stunning upsets in contemporary cycling history, a turn of fate that turned Pogacar into a household name and created the start of a redemption arc for Roglic that would result in victories at both Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Vuelta a España later in the season. It also ensured that the stories of these two men would become inextricably linked for the foreseeable future, if not forever, in the way two men are bound by the common struggle of sport and the scintillating narrative prospects of rivalry. As we saw in Itzulia Basque Country this year, Roglic and Pogacar are rivals now, make no mistake. However, unlike most rivals in the history of cycling, the two Slovenians are a lot of other things too. Their bonds, albeit forged little by little, are as complex and nuanced as the two quiet men who share them.

Primož Roglic and Tadej Pogacar have a lot in common. They are both remarkably