Primož Roglič: ‘It’s nice to have the jersey but the goal is to have it at the end in Rome’

One second made all of the difference for Primož Roglič. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team leader missed out on victory in the Giro d’Italia’s stage two time trial by a mere second – or by 24 hundredths, to be exact – but claimed the leader’s jersey by that same amount. Finishing an extremely close second to Josh Tarling in the TT put the Slovenian veteran back in pink jersey he won in 2023 and suggested that he’s right on track to repeat that triumph.

Typically, though, Roglič wasn’t going to get carried away either by his capture of the Giro’s lead or by the significant time he had gained on many of his GC rivals. “I’m happy, definitely,” he said of taking the jersey. “You don’t really plan it. You dreaming about having it, fighting for it, having it in Rome.”

Roglič admitted to being a little surprised at how well he’d fared on the TT course, which he said didn’t really suit him. “Obviously it’s not really the kind of time trial that I would wish for, that suits me the best,” he said. “So, I’m happy. I really enjoyed it. It was quite hard, but the result is nice.”

The 2023 champion said that he’d been in the Red Bull car behind teammate Jan Tratnik when he raced the 13.7km course and that this had given him a better insight into the key corners. Tratnik had also provided some advice on wind direction at certain points. Roglič also revealed that he’d ridden it with a 68 chainring fitted. “It’s no problem putting on big rings, the problem is having the power,” he said, adding, “Somehow I pushed through today.”

Asked whether he was disappointed to lose out to Tarling by such a tight margin, Roglič explained: “You always want to win, but in the end I don’t care so much about the results anymore. I’m too old to be stressed about these details. I’m healthy, I’m functioning well, I did a nice time trial, and it’s a great surprise to also have this pink jersey.”

He added: “I’ll just enjoy it. You have to take it day by day and enjoy it. As we always say, you never know when it’s the last one, just like with the wins.”

Roglič acknowledged that the pink jersey could well be back on Mads Pedersen’s shoulders at the end of Sunday’s undulating third stage that features a tough climb towards the finish. “It’s a tough climb, so it just depends how hard the pace is. But, obviously, Mads is in great shape, so I guess they will try to set it up again for him,” he said.

“Tomorrow is obviously a nice stage for Mads, so we’ll see how it goes. But for us, it doesn’t change really much. The goal is to have the jersey at the end in Rome.”