WorldTour
Primož Roglič's Giro d’Italia comes to an early close on Stage 16
After twice pulling on the maglia rosa with a promising start, Primož Roglič’s Giro came to an early end on Stage 16. A series of crashes took their toll, with the focus now shifting to the Tour.
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Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe came to the Giro d’Italia with hopes of a strong overall challenge from Primož Roglič, and early signs pointed in the right direction. Primož showed promising form in the opening stages of the race, riding into the maglia rosa after the Stage 2 ITT in Albania, where he finished second in the ITT, a fraction of a second down on the stage winner. The Slovenian again rode into pink on Stage 7. He also finished second in the TT, just one second behind Josh Tarling. He reclaimed the pink jersey on Stage 7, following a solid ride on the first mountain finish to Tagliacozzo,
Primož Roglič takes second in Tirana ITT
© Getty Sport
Primož Roglič takes the pink jersey in Albania
© Getty Sport
Primož Roglič wears the pink jersey on the roads of Albania
© Getty Sport
Primož Roglič takes pink jersey on Stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia
© Getty Sport
However, the race proved challenging as Primož suffered several crashes, including incidents on gravel roads and during a time trial reconnaissance. With the cumulative impact of these crashes impacting his subsequent performance in the race, the final setback came during the rain-soaked Stage 16, where Primož crashed again, leading to his withdrawal from the race.
His attention now shifts to recovery and refocusing on the second half of the season, with the Tour de France as the next major goal.
This Giro tried to break me a bit, but I made it through. But I collected too many knocks from these crashes, and in the end, I had to stop. Still, I’m trying to look ahead to what comes next. The team and the guys, we shared some nice experiences here, and it was definitely special to ride with them. Like I said, those are memories I won’t forget. I’m hopeful for the next challenges.
It’s a pity for us as a team. This Giro d’Italia was one of our big goals for the season. But over the last two weeks, luck really wasn’t on our side. Jai crashed out and had to leave the race early. Primož crashed three times, and now he’s simply in too much pain and carrying too many injuries to continue. Even the rest day didn’t help. He gave it a go today but recognised that his body was saying no, so he had to abandon the race. It’s not what we wanted, but that’s sport. We now have to look ahead to the next, which for Primož is the Tour de France. For him, we’re already focusing on what’s coming next in his preparation.
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