‘I’m still here’ - Roglic suffers 29-second loss in the Giro d’Italia GC game

MONTE BONDONE ITALY MAY 23 EDITORS NOTE Alternate crop LR Primo Rogli of Slovenia and Sepp Kuss of The United States and Team JumboVisma compete in the chase group during the 106th Giro dItalia 2023 Stage 16 a 203km stage from Sabbio Chiese to Monte Bondone 1642m UCIWT on May 23 2023 in Monte Bondone Italy Photo by Tim de WaeleGetty Images

Primož Roglič lost the first round of the GC battle at the Giro d’Italia on Tuesday but he and his Jumbo-Visma team insisted he was not on the ropes after failing to respond to an attack by João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) 4.5km from the Monte Bondone mountain finish.

Roglič was fortunate to have Sepp Kuss to help pace him to the finish and he found one last effort to finish third, and so take a four-second time bonus. However, he finished a significant 25 seconds down on Almeida and Thomas, and slipped to third overall, 29 seconds down on the Welshman and 11 seconds down on Almeida.