Roglič Is Running Out of Time: The Era's O.G. Has No Contract and Few Options

Everyone’s obsessed with what’s next for Paul Seixas, but shouldn’t we be thinking more about Primož Roglič?

The modern era’s grand tour OG is out of contract with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and he’s running out of time to secure his future.

Having been linked to seemingly half the teams in the pro peloton, Roglič’s options are becoming increasingly thin.

According to contract super-sleuth Daniel Benson, a previously muted link up with Tom Pidcock at Pinarello-Q36.5 is now off the table. Benson reported the news Wednesday on Twitter / X.

If correct, that will be another team crossed off the list of options for a rider who clearly has more to give.

Roglič dogged out second place at the Vuelta a España in September before he bounded to an unforeseen European time trial title one month later.

Despite Roglič’s late-season resurgence and his ongoing will to race into 2027, he’s accepted his days might be numbered.

“You never know when is the last [race],” Roglič said last month before he finished 10th at Il Lombardia.

When pressed on whether he will continue to race next year, Roglič said, “I don’t know yet. We will see. We will see.”

Benson’s reporting on Wednesday makes it seem increasingly likely that “The Race of the Falling Leaves” was Roglič’s last dance, whether he likes it or not.

Roglič’s future is the story that just keeps giving

“What’s next for Roglič” has become a saga worthy of its own Box Set.

He was linked to Lotto-Intermarché way back in summer but reportedly turned down the Belgian team’s offer.

Since then, the five-time grand tour winner has variously been connected to Unibet Rose Rockets, Tudor Pro Cycling, and his former team, Visma-Lease a Bike.

Those links lasted just one episode.

Het Laatste Nieuws reported last week that initial talks between Roglič and Visma have been called off.

Unibet Rose Rockets founder Bas Tietema revealed he had contact with Roglič ahead of the Vuelta a España, but made no suggestion of intent.

And the chances of a move to Tudor are looking increasingly slim – though Fabian Cancellara’s ambitious young team does still have a space on its roster.

With Pinarello-Q36.5 seemingly out of the running, Roglič’s time – and options – are running out.

Will Roglič ever wear his European TT champion’s jersey?

Roglič may be without a contract for next year, but the four-time Vuelta a España champion and Giro d’Italia winner still holds some star power.

The Slovenian will do the rounds as a special guest at the Taiwan Masters Ride on Monday, November 9.

He and a selection of B-tier pros will be joined by a mob of local fans in a ride outside of Taipei.

But who knows, that could be Roglič’s last ride as a pro.

It would be a strange way to bow out for a rider who’s been so definitive of the modern era.

Having turned 37 just last week, Rogla is one of the few survivors of the pre-pandemic age – a time of rim brakes and 175mm cranks – to have remained competitive in his craft.

The riders who finished behind “the Slovenian who was a ski jumper” when he claimed his first Vuelta a España victory in 2019 reads like a pro cycling retirement home. Tadej Pogačar, then in his grand tour debut, is the one anomaly alongside Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana, Rafal Majka, and the disgraced “superman” López.

In the seven years since Vuelta win No.1, Roglič has become the peloton’s enduring enigma, a rider who either crashes or crushes, and who says everything and nothing all at once.

With 93 wins on his palmarès, he’s one of the most celebrated riders in the bunch. Pogačar is the only active pro to have won more.

Roglič needs to pull one last surprise

Roglič is far from his peak. With only two wins in 2026, this was the least successful year of his pro career.

But he’s refused to be pushed out of the picture altogether.

His defiant home victory at Ljubljana’s European time trial championships proves that point.

“It’s beautiful, it’s of course for me, but it’s also for all the people,” Roglič said after he accepted the white-and-blue Euro jersey.

“My radio stopped working. It cut out in the first kilometer of the race, so I was completely lost,” he added. “I just went with my instincts.”

Roglič’s European TT victory was as unlikely as it gets.

He might need to pull something equally unlikely to be able to wear that champion’s jersey in 2027.