After the pink confetti fell on Richard Carapaz's (Movistar) Giro d'Italia victory, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) said that finishing third on the podium was a victory since he was not feeling good since he crashed on stage 14.
The Slovenian overhauled Mikel Landa (Movistar Team) for third place today in Verona. He welcomed his final GC standing after the trouble he had in Como a week ago with a bike change and crash.
"Everybody was fighting for the win from the beginning," Roglič said. "A lot of things happened, I had a lot of problems, and like I said, I didn't feel great after stage 14 any more.
"So at the end, with all the problems I had, it's just a win to finish on the podium in Verona."
Roglič won the opening time trial in Bologna, led the race for five days, and won the San Marino time trial. However, he lacked a spark in the mountains. Then, team fumbled the Como stage with a bad bike change that contributed to his crash in the run-in to the finish.
"We all learn things with the whole team when we do these three-week races," he said. "Experiences and lessons, we need to do some analysis, and then after, then for sure something I can feel better [than I did in this race], maybe with the food, and then we can come back better."
Roglič came in the hot favourite to win the overall after topping the three races he had raced so far in 2019: The UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie.
Some suggested that he rode too hard in the early spring and paid for it when the grand tour entered its deep end.
"After the war, you can always be smart to change or to be different," he said. "I am super happy and proud of this Giro.
"Also, the first part of the season, with all the races I did. For sure I learn these moments and I will try to take something out of it."
Roglič won stages in last year's Tour de France and placed fourth overall behind winner Geraint Thomas (Ineos). It is unclear if he will race the French Grand Tour this year, but the team will back Steven Kruijswijk regardless.
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
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