Even for the Giro d’Italia, this felt like a new extreme of cruelty. Monte Lussari was still in the early throes of Primož Roglič's victory party when Geraint Thomas emerged from a tent beside the podium, having changed out of the maglia rosa he had just conceded by 14 seconds in the stage 20 time trial.
By the time Thomas came out, Roglič had already been feted on the podium as the stage winner, his telemark celebration sending the thousands of Slovenian fans who had made the short hop over the border into raptures. “Pri-mož! Pri-mož! Pri-mož!”
