Slovenian star Primoz Roglic extended his contract with Team LottoNL-Jumbo for the 2018 season. Fresh of the Volta ao Algarve win, General Manager  Richard Plugge was happy to confirm the deal.

Roglic slotted in immediately with the Dutch WorldTour team after ending his ski jumping career. Last year, he placed second to Tom Dumoulin in the opening Giro d’Italia time trial in the Netherlands and won the long time trial through the famous Chianti hills. The debut season was backed up quickly in 2017 with the overall win on Sunday in Portugal’s Vuelta ao Algarve.

"We signed him as an inexperienced talent,” Plugge said. “Under our guidance, he has made some beautiful steps.

"He is a true athlete who diligently works on his development. He trained as a ski jumper, but in cycling, he is still improving. We put in a lot of energy and Primoz takes it on board. He is very coachable."

"I like it in Team LottoNL-Jumbo,” Roglic added. "We were each satisfied with how it was going, so I'm glad we agreed so quickly on the contract extension.

“This will allow me to have more chances to score and to develop. There was interest from several other teams, but proper supervision is still very important to me. Moreover, I get along with everyone in the team and that counts."

The 27-year-old wants to develop his climbing skills to improve as a classification rider. Doing so, he wants to keep his time trialling sharp.

"He has huge potential,” continued Plugge. “We want to show this exponent of his talent and development. Despite his age, he has not been cycling long and so he is still young in that sense.”

Roglic’s palmarès also includes overall victory in the Tour of Azerbaijan and at home in the Tour of Slovenia in 2015.