A tear ran down his cheek at the end. We have always seen him as one of the most easy-going, relaxed riders in the bunch, in his unmistakable āwhatever will be will beā sort of attitude, but this time emotions got the better of him.
The embrace of his rival JoĆ£o Almeida, followed by that of all his teammates (some were even more moved than he was) and the entireĀ Jumbo-VismaĀ staff did bring eventually bring out couple of tears.
And it is just normal to be so, becauseĀ Primož RogliÄĀ has conquered Mount Lussari, winning a few steps from his native Slovenia, surrounded and propelled by thousands of compatriots, and going on to take theĀ Maglia RosaĀ by sheer force. He beat Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) by 40 seconds wiih āonlyā 26 to recover, enough to win ā still unofficially, given tomorrowās catwalk in Rome ā the Giro dāItalia 2023.
Primož has achieved the most important success of his career in the exact same manner in which he had lost it back in 2020, as on the slopes of theĀ Planche des Belles Filles, his fellow countryman Tadej PogaÄar had unbelievably snatched the yellow jersey from him on the final uphill time trial, despite the 57-second margin with which RogliÄ had started that stage. But he never turned it into a shock, he never saw ghosts, and this time destiny decided to give him back what he had taken from him.
Not without a few shivers, though. First, the crash in the Tortona stage, which left him with a few bruises and the need to regain his best physical condition along the way, and today the chain drop that caused him to lose at least 15ā³.
Bottom line, he had to sweat it out, but this time he had it right. Tomorrow, in Rome, in the shadow of the Colosseum, he will finally get to enjoy a day all to himself as he will be crowned Giro dāItalia champion.
A Trofeo Senza Fine that evenĀ Geraint ThomasĀ would surely have deserved, but he had said it yesterday, in order to celebrate the Pink dream, a ābastardā time trial was still pending, which indeed proved to be fatal for him.Ā āBetter to lose by such a big margin than by a second or two. Primož smashed me, and to be honest he deserved it, since he also had a mechanical problem. Chapeau to himā. A gentleman, whom the Giro dāItalia is honoured to have had as a leader for eight stages. – www.giroditalia.it
