Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Bob Jungels came so close to taking pink(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
After losing out in the opening time trial, Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo) secured his first after Grand Tour stage win with victory in the Giro d'Italia's stage 9 time trial.
Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-QuickStep) hadn't expected to end the day in pink but held onto the race lead by just a single second over his teammate Bob Jungels.
"After approximately ten kilometres, I lost my computer and my bottle. I indicated to my sport director to pick my computer but I'm not sure if he understood what I was telling him. I also lost motivation and I decided to take it easy. But I was feeling fantastic uphill so I just pushed and pushed for the fun of it. I was really slow and unlucky at the beginning but very fast and lucky at the end because I only felt a drop or two while the riders after me got the pouring rain. This is strange, very strange.
"I didn’t expect it, I was just trying to do my best. In the end, I had some luck with the weather and that was it. It was the first time that I had done a time trial of more than 10km and it was fun. It was all the time up and down, left and right. I had luck with the weather and I could just do my best."
"I’m really happy actually. Today was different of course, it was difficult to defend the pink jersey. I rested well last night, I woke up well. When I started my time trial I had nothing to lose. I had my pink jersey on and I had my stage and I’ll do my best to defend it.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"I also tried today to go maybe not as fast as I could but my descent was ok. The last turn was very difficult because I saw riders crashing earlier in the day. It was wet and slippery but by a second I managed to keep it.
"Yesterday I expended a lot of of energy in the breakaway. I attacked and I went full gas all day. It was the same today: alone again, full gas again and nothing to lose. Everything went well. I kept the Maglia Rosa. Until now everything has gone well in the Giro. It's an amazing feeling."
Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep) – young rider classification leader and second place overall
"I did the recon of this time trial after Strade Bianche and we had the video so I knew it pretty well. With the conditions that changed a lot for the stage victory. I knew that it would suit me. It was quite a hard time trial. The climbs weren’t too steep but long where you need a lot of power and then I think I took some risks in the downhill. I’m super happy with my re-entry into the top 3."
Video Highlights
Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) – points classification leader
"I was happy that I warmed up a little bit. The beginning on the uphill would not have been nice if you didn’t warm up but I did so I am happy. Some corners were quite technical and I was also in the rain so I didn’t take any risks. The last riders had some very bad conditions but if you want to fight for the pink jersey then you have to take some risks. Unfortunately, some riders crashed but that is cycling."
