A month after Tadej Pogachar's daring victory in the Tour de France, his main victim, Primoš Roglic, has a chance to put his September defeat further in the past by focusing on defending his Vuelta a España title.

Loglič, who heads into the 18-day Vuelta a España with Dosado #1 on his back, is the Slovenian to start as the pre-race favorite to win, even if Tom Dumoulin was riding shotgun.

Since the way Pogachar suffered a tough loss in the Tour de France in the final time trial on the summit of La Planche des Belle Filles, where he rode unstoppable to take the maillot jaune, the leader of Jumbo Visma, the UCI Road World Championships men's road race, finishing sixth, and surprisingly winning the Monument of Liège-Bastogne-Liège after Julien Alaphilippe (Detuninck-Quick Step) sat out the early stages of the sprint contest.

Roglic is in great form this season, but he will not head to the Vuelta unless he is physically and mentally fit to defend his title, and in addition to Dumoulin, the Jumbo-Visma team includes proven climbers like Robert Goessink, Sepp Kuss, and George Bennett.

"It's just like the Tour de France. We come here with a strong team and Tom and I are the leaders," said Roglic at the pre-race press conference.

"We'll see who is better and how we work. Tom and I will both start as leaders.

Roglic deserves credit for finishing second in the Tour, but more than that, he deserves credit for his attitude in dealing with such a raw and public defeat. Losing in a mountain finish at the Tour de France was one thing, but losing in an individual time trial, and when everyone expected the jumbo rider to finish the race, was a bitter way to taste defeat.

But the 30-year-old has bounced back, and while the wounds must probably still be there, he is at least trying to heal them and move on.

"Everything moved along pretty fast," he said. He quickly accepted the situation and began to look forward to the next races. The World Championships, Liège, and now here we are. I'm looking forward to it and I want to do this race as well as I can."

What may help Roglic is that there is no gentle path to the Vuelta this year and no time to ease into the competition or dwell, as the riders face a tougher first week (assuming the race makes it to Madrid) than the final week.

"It's true that the course is different from the Tour. It's going to be a mountain stage right away, so tomorrow and the next day we'll figure out what we're capable of. For me, I like the route. It will be really exciting for the home riders because the race is always unfolding," the Slovenian said.

As for Dumoulin, he heads into the race with a chip on his shoulder. A former Giro d'Italia winner, he was a key superdomestique for Roglic in the Tour. While that role could be reversed in the coming days and weeks, the Dutchman is well aware that his preparations for the Vuelta are far from ideal and that there are problems for all involved.

"I've been really busy since July. I have been running non-stop. I am happy to still be able to compete in the Vuelta," Dumoulin said.

"I am here with a strong team. It's a strange feeling because I didn't prepare for the Grand Tour in a high altitude camp. It's different. Everything is overlapping but it is the same for everyone. But there will always be a winner of the Vuelta, and it would be even better if it was one of us."