His teammates look on in disbelief, but nothing stops Roglic from the overall victory

Minutes after leader Primoz Roglic had sensationally decided the 2023 Giro in his favor, Sam Oomen could hardly believe what had happened. With a white towel around his neck, the Jumbo-Visma rider stood in front of the camera of a sun-drenched sky and partly snow-covered mountains. Eurosport. To then aptly summarize the three-week round in two sentences. “I think it has been a bit of a tame Giro for many spectators from a distance. But this has turned out to be a very exciting apotheosis.”

Fourteen seconds was the difference between overall winner Roglic and number two Geraint Thomas after almost 3,500 kilometers between Fossacesia and Rome, where Mark Cavendish (Astana) won the final stage on Sunday. Just not historic, Fiorenzo Magni won in 1948 by eleven seconds and in 1955 by thirteen seconds. But it was special as the Slovenian forced the decision in the climbing time trial on Monte Lussari on Saturday. He suddenly seemed hopeless when his chain came off a few miles below the summit. But Roglic (33) remained calm, put the chain back on himself and flamed against the steep wall through a crowd of frenzied compatriots to stage win and Giro victory.

Until the climb time trial on the border with Slovenia, the 106th edition of the Giro d’Italia had a rather uneventful course, with little battle between the favourites. Corona kept house in the peloton again and the bad weather caused a shortened mountain stage and crashes. Nevertheless, there was fun to be had. From the surplus of class of Remco Evenepoel, until he had to get off due to corona. The fighting spirit of Canadian Derek Gee, four times second in a stage. Or the grandeur with which Thomas accepted his defeat (“Roglic really deserves it”). The final ranking was more international than ever, with eleven different nationalities in the top eleven.

Thymen Arensman (23) finished just like in last year’s Vuelta sixth and seems to be the most important Dutch asset for the Grand Tours in the coming years. After his switch from DSM to Ineos Grenadiers, he rode a strong Giro in the service of leader Thomas. In the climbing time trial, the 1.92 meter long and 68 kilo light Arensman once again showed his qualities with eighth place, in a style that resembles former Giro star Erik Breukink. However, he was not completely satisfied with his final ranking. “A fourth place might have been possible, although I would have immediately exchanged my own result for the overall victory of G (eraint Thomas).”

ultimate fight

The undisputed highlight of the Giro was on Saturday at fourteen minutes to six on the flanks of Monte Lussari. Nice introduction, the boxing of number two Roglic with rosette wearer Thomas on the starting podium in Tarvisio. Ready for them ultimate fight man to man over 18.6 kilometers, the last seven kilometers uphill with an average gradient of no less than 12.3 percent. Roglic takes some seconds: two, four, eight, then back to six. He smoothly switches from time trial to climbing bike, where Thomas loses a little more time a little later. See his white shirt and pants: sweat and salt. The difference becomes sixteen seconds and increases in the climb.

On top of the ‘monkey’s rock’ they get careful talk, Roglic’s teammates who have already ridden and are now watching their leader on a large screen: foreman Sepp Kuss, Koen Bouwman, Sam Oomen. Then suddenly their horror when Roglic drives through a pothole and his chain is off. “That was not the intention,” says Roglic afterwards, hypothermically. After he fixes the malhour, he is pushed back on. Like the Russian Rabo leader Denis Menjov, after a fall in the final time trial, partly thanks to the alert response of mechanic Vincent Hendriks for the overall victory in the 2009 Giro.

Striking: precisely at the place where Roglic has a breakdown, not only his mechanic Tessel Sprengers jumps off the tracking engine (the path is too narrow for a car) to help. There is also a fan in a red shirt on the side, pushing him to go. Afterwards, reports appear on social media that the man is Mitja Meznar, a former teammate of Roglic from the time he was still a ski jumper. Together they became European champions with their country in 2007 in Tarvisio, the starting point of the time trial. “Fortunately he was there,” said Roglic afterwards. “I have to thank that man immensely.” Although he apparently hadn’t even recognized his old teammate.

Major shoulder surgery

With his first Giro victory, the leader of Jumbo-Visma brings his total to four overall victories in a grand tour. He previously won the Vuelta in 2019, 2020 and 2021. He was third in the 2019 Giro, second in the 2020 Tour – then he lost the yellow on the penultimate day in a climbing time trial to his compatriot Tadej Pogacar. Last season, Roglic stepped down after a fall in the Tour and later also in the Vuelta. After that last fall, a major operation on his shoulder followed. “It was a tough winter for our family,” said his wife Lora at the finish at Eurosport on Saturday. “It took him a long time to rebuild from scratch.”

Read also: Nobody Roglic still has to deal with the skepticism.

According to head coach Merijn Zeeman of Jumbo-Visma, Roglic was “faster on the bike” than expected. He immediately won Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of Catalonia. After a long altitude training in Tenerife, he came to Italy, where he successfully attacked on the final climb to Fossombrone in the eighth stage. Two falls cost him some strength, but in the last week his perseverance shows. On Monte Bondone he limited his loss to Joao Almeida and Thomas on Tuesday, on Tre Cime di Lavaredo he turned an imminent loss against Thomas into a win in a few seconds on Friday.

Did his team make the mistake in mountain stages not to keep the race closed, so that the fast leader could not sprint for bonus seconds? Roglic remained focused on the moment of truth and put everything right in the climbing time trial despite the setback. “It’s still Primoz, isn’t it”, praised teammate Bouwman. And Oomen: “A madhouse and a rollercoaster, all in one. Very, very special.”