How Primož Roglič Trains (the Ski Jumper Who Started Cycling at 22)

Roglič was a pro ski jumper who started cycling at 22, then won four Grand Tours. What the late switch teaches about starting a sport as an adult.

Sven Ahrens2026年7月29日最終更新 2026年9月6日

cyclingcritical powerlate starteraerobic basetraining

Every other cyclist in this series grew up racing bikes. Primož Roglič grew up flying off ski jumps. He was a professional ski jumper into his early twenties, took up cycling around 2012, turned pro in 2013, and has won four editions of the Vuelta a España and an Olympic time-trial gold. The best argument in the sport against having to start young.

An unusual path

Roglič competed in ski jumping to junior world-championship level. A bad crash in 2007 shook his nerve for it, and he drifted out of the sport before finding cycling in his early twenties. His own account is plain: it was time for a change, he liked cycling, why not.

The trained-athlete base converted fast. Years of structured elite training transferred into cycling far faster than starting from zero would. He credits specific carryover: "We did a lot of work with core strength, balance, flexibility and acrobatics. All that helps me on the bike." His precise descending is widely attributed to the nerve control ski jumping demands.

Building the engine from a trained base

Roglič's strength is the classic Grand Tour package: a huge aerobic engine, a strong time trial, and form tour after tour. The consistency comes from a repeatable process he tweaks incrementally. He works with long-time coach Marc Lamberts, who followed him to Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, and builds around altitude blocks.

For a crossover athlete, the base from another sport is not wasted. An ex-runner, ex-rower or ex-team-sport athlete carries a foundation that shortens the on-bike ramp-up. The tool for turning it into cycling zones without a lab is critical power, from two efforts:

クリティカルパワー

229W

W′（無酸素性仕事量）

12.9kJ

12857 J

ゾーン	範囲	鍛えられるもの
Z2	エンデュランス ≤ 183 W	CP以下の有酸素的土台。楽、RPE 3〜4。
Z3	テンポ 183–206 W	閾値以下の定常運動。快適にきつい、RPE 5〜6。
Z4	スレッショルド（CP） 206–229 W	まさにクリティカルパワー、最大代謝定常状態。きつい、RPE 7〜8。
Z5	VO₂ / W′ の消費 229–274 W	CPより上。一秒ごとにW′のバッテリーを消費します。非常にきつい、RPE 9。
Z6	無酸素 ≥ 274 W	激しいW′の消費。短い最大運動。最大、RPE 10。

エンデュランス

≤ 183 W

テンポ

183–206 W

スレッショルド（CP）

206–229 W

VO₂ / W′ の消費

229–274 W

無酸素

≥ 274 W

Z2 · エンデュランス. CP以下の有酸素的土台。楽、RPE 3〜4。

Z3 · テンポ. 閾値以下の定常運動。快適にきつい、RPE 5〜6。

Z4 · スレッショルド（CP）. まさにクリティカルパワー、最大代謝定常状態。きつい、RPE 7〜8。

Z5 · VO₂ / W′ の消費. CPより上。一秒ごとにW′のバッテリーを消費します。非常にきつい、RPE 9。

Z6 · 無酸素. 激しいW′の消費。短い最大運動。最大、RPE 10。

クリティカルパワーはパワー・持続時間曲線の漸近線です。（理論上）無限に維持できる最も高いパワーを指します。W′はCPより上で利用できる固定量の仕事、つまりあなたの無酸素性「バッテリー」です。
2パラメータのCPには、明確に異なる持続時間の2つの最大運動（例：3分と12分）が必要です。長さが近すぎる運動は不安定な推定になります。
CPは通常FTPの数%以内に収まりますが、W′を加える点が異なります。これは閾値を超えてどれだけ長くいられるかをモデル化します。

パーソナライズされた結果のPDFと、いつでも再表示できるQRコード付き。

Do a short maximal effort and a longer one. You get the intensity you can sustain in a steady state plus the size of your anaerobic reserve above it. It is the same anchor an FTP gives, from a different pair of tests.

Resilience is part of the method

Roglič's career carries a long list of crashes: shoulders, abandons, a Giro exit. He keeps coming back and winning within months.

2026

Now 36, Roglič is skipping the 2026 Tour de France, where Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe backs Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz, and building toward the Vuelta a España in late August, chasing a record fifth title at a race he already owns with four. Reporting frames him increasingly as a leader-and-mentor for the team's younger riders.

What you can steal from it

It is not too late to start. Roglič did not ride competitively until his twenties and won four Grand Tours.
Your old sport transfers. Aerobic fitness and trained discipline carry between sports.
Anchor to a measured number early. Critical power from two efforts gives a crossover rider structured zones quickly.
Trust a repeatable process. Refine incrementally instead of chasing a new trend each winter.
Treat setbacks as interruptions. Crashes and missed blocks do not define a season.

More in this series: Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Demi Vollering.

Sources

Cover photo by Hugo LUC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.