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In Grand Tours gone by, when Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) got back into the leader’s jersey after ceding it to a non-threat, it often signalled him nearing overall victory and an extension of his lead in the general classification.
However, unlike his four Vuelta a España triumphs and victory at the 2023 Giro d’Italia, which saw him only claim the pink jersey for the first time after the race’s penultimate stage, on Friday’s Giro d’Italia mountain stage, it meant quite the opposite.
Roglič reclaimed pink from Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) after the stage 7 summit finish into Tagliacozzo, but was largely absent from the final charge to the line between the GC favourites, with main rival Juan Ayuso (UAE-Team Emirates-XRG) surging away to the stage win and taking back valuable time.
Before Ayuso launched from fourth position in the bunch, he was furiously checking behind him to scout Roglič’s position, and seeing it was far from ideal, made the winning move. Roglič, by contrast, was left trying to make up places from way back, and it wasn’t until the final hundred metres that he recovered to fourth.
Roglič was in great spirits nonetheless after the stage, unfazed by the stage defeat and GC blow landed by Ayuso, who cut the deficit down from 18 seconds to just four, with the Slovenian counting age as one factor, being 13 years Ayuso’s senior.
“No, I was just not there, huh, you always try to give your best and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but anyway, I enjoyed it today, so I’m happy,” said Roglič after stage 7.
“I was just not completely in the position I should be. I was a bit sleepy,” he laughed. “It was how it was, I was just not fighting for the win today, but anyway, it was a good result.
“But it is the first mountain stage, and I need some time. I’m not so young, these young guys go immediately, we [older riders] need a bit of time to maybe, hopefully start working.”
With his positioning being an issue in the final, Roglič was asked a lot about the absence of Jai Hindley, after he crashed out with a concussion and fractured vertebrae on Thursday, with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe lacking the control on the final climb that they showed throughout the Abruzzo stage.
“For sure, he was a big loss, Jai also already won the Giro, but it’s cycling, these are things we cannot change,” said Roglič.
“The guys today were super impressive after yesterday, when a lot of them went down. We will work on.
“I always get the maglia rosa and I never win,” he joked. “It was tough, a bit uphill here at the end. But I’m happy to see how the team functioned today, and I’m happy with my feelings.”
With Ayuso stepping into the spotlight, Roglič only had respect for the man who looks to be his main rival for the coming two weeks, and with the gap now under 5 seconds, the fight for the maglia rosa is heating up after only the stage 2 time trial really saw any differences made.
“As you can see, Ayuso is definitely coming closer and closer, so I’m just enjoying it, you never know when your last day in the pink jersey is,” said Roglič, who was gracious as ever in defeat.
“You obviously always want to win, but today I didn’t. I still took the maglia rosa and I’m just enjoying it.
“I already know, yes, Ayuso is a fast guy and will be a tough opponent, but it’s only the beginning of the Giro, and the fight goes on.”
Roglič explained his retained positive attitude at taking the jersey even after a loss as also being again down to his age, unsure of how many more leader’s jerseys he will wear in what has already been an illustrious career at 35.
“It’s just the fact that at the end, I probably will still not do 10 Giros more,” he said. “So being able to still be here around and riding with the best ones up is just beautiful.”
Ayuso may have won the first mountain battle, but there are a lot of stages and many brutal climbs left to come, where if Roglič can kick his diesel engine into overdrive, he could well extend his hold over pink and again prove that his age is no factor when it comes to putting a three-week victory performance together.
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