‘The ride of his life’ – Breakaway team thrilled for Primoz Roglic, devastated for Geraint Thomas at Giro d’Italia

The Giro d’Italia stood accused of being a little dry on occasions, but the time trial served up huge drama as Primoz Rogic produced “the ride of his life” to snatch the pink jersey from Geraint Thomas.

Thomas went into the penultimate stage of the race with a 26-second lead over Roglic.

Roglic started strong to pile pressure on Thomas, but he looked set to suffer more ITT heartbreak on a mountain ala La Planche des Belles Filles at the Tour de France in 2020 when he dropped his chain.

Behind him, Thomas was struggling and the Ineos Grenadiers man saw the pink jersey slip off his shoulders to the tune of 14 seconds.

While it was heartbreak for Thomas, it saw Roglic exorcise the demons of La Planche des Belles Filles in what Orla Chennaoui said on The Breakaway “felt like the ride of his life”.

Chennaoui said: “We have seen Primoz put in incredible performances, but this today felt like the ride of his life.”

In response, Dan Lloyd said: “It feels that way.

“I don’t know what to think right now. You’ve got to take your hat off to Primoz Roglic, so over the moon for that guy. Whilst Geraint Thomas has had bad luck in his career, Primoz Roglic it just seems to follow him everywhere.”

Lloyd did fear that fortune was going to desert Roglic once again when he dropped his chain.

He added: “He has been so close in the Giro and Tour de France, and when we saw that mechanical it was like ‘my goodness, can anything more go warning for this guy?’

“It might be what loses him the Giro d’Italia title he has been fighting for for three weeks and all the months leading up to it.

“In the end it was an emphatic victory in the time trial and 14 seconds on the general classification.”

Lloyd said seeing how the stage played out left him with mixed emotions.

“I am feeling incredibly happy for Primoz Roglic, I feel absolutely devastated for Geraint Thomas,” Lloyd said. “Once again the bridesmaid, but he can be extremely proud of what he has achieved.“

Alongside Chennaoui and Lloyd, Robbie McEwen feared misfortune would play a part in the outcome of the race.

“We said coming into the time trial we were hoping for a fair battle, nothing goes wrong for anyone,” McEwen said. “Something always happens.

“We said when he (Roglic) rolled out of the start there must have been a tiny part of him thinking back to 2020, losing the yellow jersey, he must have wanted to get that monkey off his back.

“It is so unfortunate it had to be against Geraint Thomas, but I am so pleased for Primoz Roglic after what he has been through at this Giro.

“I think he will eventually tell us how much he was hurting from that crash, you could see it was affecting him and he was getting better.

“Geraint Thomas has been so good throughout, I would have been happy to see either win.”

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