Primoz Roglic wins his first Giro d’Italia with an unforgettable performance in Lussari

“It’s about arriving in Rome in pink, right?” were the words of Cousin Roglic after the conclusion of the time trial that started the 106th edition of the Giro d’Italia, after Remco Evenepoel signed a stratospheric performance that postponed the Slovenian to more than 40 seconds. Nineteen days later, with the Belgian withdrawing, in which little happened and much was expected, everything was left in the hands of the Jumbo rider and a Geraint Thomas who, at 37, He was very close to becoming the oldest runner in the history of the Corsa Rosa. It was not so. Cycling, fate, karma, you name it, I owed one to Primoz Roglic, who became Giro champion in one of the most exciting race finishes in recorded history of this sport.

And it is that what lived in the Mount Lussari, scene of the final battle, Couldn’t be more epic. Roglic had been pulverizing the times in the first intermediate points, which made him recover 16 of the 26 seconds with which he started behind Thomas. However, misfortune, which on countless occasions has been his shadow, reappeared in Primoz’s way. With about 3 km of climbing to go, Roglic’s bicycle chain came off, an invention that could have been very expensive. And it is that the Slovenian decided to mount a SRAM gravel groupset (40 single chainring and large cog on the 44 tooth cassette) on his road bike, giving him a great advantage in saving muscle at high cadences on the steepest inclines. But in a pothole, its mechanics and illusions seemed to blow up. There was no other choice but to grit your teeth and do something heroic. Cousin complied. After losing almost all the advantage he had gained, Roglic was able to lead the Welshman by 40 seconds to claim the pink jersey by 14 seconds, the second-smallest gap in Giro history. Seeing is believing. Also Historic is João Almeida’s podium, since the UAE man becomes the first Portuguese to climb to the drawer of the Italian round.

The time trial route had two well-differentiated parts. The first, of just over 11 kilometres, is mostly flat although with several slopes. The second, the fearsome and unprecedented ascent to the Monte Lussari, with its little more than 7 km at 12.1% average and ramps of 22%. If you add a concrete pavement, where the bicycle lacks as much traction as on asphalt, the demand is nothing other than beastly. The first reference time was set by the youngest of the race, a Matthew Riccitello which stopped the clock at 46:19. At 21 years old, she left his seal of quality in such an impressive setting. Before the departure of the bosses, things began to get serious at the hands of his compatriot Brandon McNulty. The American was the first runner to come down from the 46-minute barrier (45:30) and that made him spend many minutes in the famous ‘hot seat’.

Only one of the great chosen, called to fight for the Giro title and stage victory, were in a position to beat him. That’s how it went. Almeida improved on men like Kuss, Caruso and Pinot at all intermediate points to sign the best provisional time at the finish line. In less than 3 minutes, the Portuguese was waving to the camera as a sign of farewell. A cyclone called Roglic destroyed his time, stopping the clock at 44:23. In total, 42 seconds faster despite the small damage. A savage. Only Thomas remained to be seen, who in the change of bicycle at the foot of the ascent showed total parsimony. He even changed his helmet. Perhaps he was calm, he sensed that it was not his day. His pedaling, not very agile, rough, was not ideal. He entered the finish line second, but 40 seconds behind Roglic, who was melting into a hug with his teammates, crying with emotion. There was no better movie ending for a Primoz Roglic who deserved it so much. He is already a living cycling legend.

General ranking

after cyclist	Equipment	Time
1 Cousin Roglic	TJV	44:23
2 Geraint Thomas	IGD	+00:40
3 Joao Almeida	UAD	+00:42
4 Damiano Caruso	TBV	+00:55
5 thibaut pinot	GFC	+00:59
6 Sepp Kuss	TJV	+01:05
7 Brandon McNulty	UAD	+01:07
8 Thymen Arensmann	IGD	+01:18
9 Andreas Leknessund	DSM	+01:49
10 Jay Vine	UAD	+01:53

after cyclist	Equipment	Time
1 Cousin Roglic	TJV	82:40:36
2 Geraint Thomas	IGD	+00:14
3 Joao Almeida	UAD	+01:15
4 Damiano Caruso	TBV	+04:40
5 thibaut pinot	GFC	+05:43
6 Thymen Arensmann	IGD	+06:05
7 Edward Dunbar	JAY	+07:30
8 Andreas Leknessund	DSM	+07:31
9 Lennard Kaemna	BOH	+07:46
10 Laurens de Plus	IGD	+09:08

See complete classification