Roglic and Red Bull express gratitude to Pellizzari after challenging day: "Thanks to his efforts, we only talk about one minute"

A crash by Lucas Hamilton (INEOS Grenadiers) caused Roglic to hit the ground on the first gravel section of the day. The Slovenian got back up and continued on his way, but then a flat tire ruined his plans once again. As a result, the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe lead rider was forced to chase, losing much time on his competitors.

"It was very tough," Roglic said in the flash interview. According to the former Giro winner, this was due to several factors. "The pace was very high at the front, and I wasn't feeling too good. But I still finished. I'll have to see what I need to do next," he said very level-headedly. "We'll see what it all means. Today, we lost a minute, but hey... Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It's still a long way to go, and we need to check our wounds and recover."

How did things go so wrong for Roglic? The crash was the immediate cause, but sports director Vila said Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe was behind all day. "Dani Felipe Martínez had mechanical problems in the first sector, which meant we were already down one man. Furthermore, Jan Tratnik was not in a good position, which meant he could not do anything. Nico Denz made sure that Giulio Pellizzari got back to Primoz."

The very young Pellizzari did a fantastic job for Roglic from the second sector onwards, which allowed him to limit the damage. "Thanks to Giulio's work, we only talk about one minute behind Ayuso. It could have been a lot more. And at first, Giulio wasn't even with Primoz's group, so he had to return. He did a great job, just like all the other guys. Primoz fought for every second until the finish."

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"It's hard to be satisfied after today, but it could have been worse," Vila concluded. "We were in a perfect position for the first sector, in first and second place. But then there were crashes, after which Primoz had to change bikes because he couldn't shift gears properly, and his tire was flat. We lost a lot of time there, which meant we had to chase the whole way." Roglic was also realistic: "We'll see how we proceed from here."

Roglic had already spent two days in the pink jersey during the first eight days after impressing in the time trial on day 2. The team, therefore, decided to attack on Sunday. "Honestly, we wanted to go for the stage win today. Primoz and the team were motivated, and we believed we had it in us. However, the crash disrupted a lot of the riders' plans. Visma pulled it off, and I'm pleased that Wout (van Aert, ed.) succeeded."

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Vila summed it all up at the bus. “Primoz is fine, as is the whole team," he said. He added: "A Grand Tour is a three-week adventure, and nothing ever goes perfectly along the way. Cycling is a crazy sport because you don't ride together all year, whereas here you're racing together for three weeks. You put them together, so I always say that the first week of a grand tour is about creating a bond and building the team spirit."

Roglic and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe should start reaping the rewards in the second and third weeks with a more finely tuned machine. On Tuesday, there is an individual time trial of 28.6 kilometers, where the leader can make up some ground. "The team spirit is excellent. Everyone is happy to be here, and we are having a good time together. We cannot control setbacks, but we can control our team spirit, which will get us to Rome."

Conclusion of the story: Roglic and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe are up for the challenge. "It's still a long way to go, and although today wasn't a good day, it could have been worse. We're focusing even more on our goal of winning the Giro. That's still possible," said Vila.