Remarkable comment from pink jersey Roglic after first mountain stage: "I didn’t really fight, haha"

Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe made their intentions clear right from the start. Riders from UAE Emirates-XRG, like Jay Vine and Rafal Majka, were not allowed to head up the road, and the German team kept a tight grip on the race, knowing that the finish offered a prime opportunity for their leader.

“I was a bit too far back and didn’t really fight, haha,” Roglic said with a somewhat awkward laugh at the start of his interview. “It was what it was. I wasn’t going for the win, but the result is good and I’m happy. I just wasn’t there. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But I enjoyed it, and you never know when it’ll be your last day in pink. I have to enjoy it too, because I’m not going to ride ten more Giros, and I’m still in the fight for the big prizes.”

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Roglic now holds a four-second lead over top rival Ayuso. “I don’t know how long I want to keep the jersey. Other guys are getting close to me, so they’ll probably want the pink jersey too. We’re doing our best as a team, and I have to say they were really great. Some of them took hard crashes, but they keep fighting,” he said, referring to Daniel Felipe Martinez and Jan Tratnik, among others.

“I knew Ayuso is a fast guy and that he’s going to be a tough opponent, but we’re still only at the beginning of a tough Giro. The fight continues,” Roglic concluded.