LottoNL-Jumbo's Primoz Roglic turned around his Tirreno-Adriatico with a perfectly executed solo attack to win stage 3 to Trevi. The victory almost makes up for a devastating 1:42 time loss on the previous stage which fairly well scuttled the Slovenian's hopes for the overall classification.
Coming into the stage 2:33 down on overnight leader Patrick Bevin (BMC), Roglic had nothing to lose by attacking a select group with 1,200m to go before the uphill finish.
"I knew I shouldn't wait too long because I am not a sprinter. So I started early. I had to give everything and that was enough. I am very happy with this victory," he said in a press release.
It was Roglic's first win of the 2018 season, and he still has more stages where he can put his talents to good use. There's first the difficult climb to the finish on stage 4 in Sarnano Sassotetto and another short climb to the line on Sunday in Filottrano. But it's the 10.5km individual time trial on Tuesday in San Benedetto del Tronto that could prove his next platform for success.
"Tomorrow another great opportunity awaits and of course we also still have the time trial."
Roglic and his teammates finished mid-pack in the opening team time trial, with 51 seconds to make up on the riders from BMC Racing and only slightly less on their other rivals. Matters became far worse when Roglic was caught up behind a crash on stage 2 and lost 1:42. The handful of seconds he gained with his victory on Friday left him still with 2:07 to make up.
"Of course I was disappointed after yesterday's time loss," Roglic said. "In the last ten kilometres, I was held up by a crash. I had to swap bikes and as a result, I fell behind. The chance on a good position in the general classification was gone, but I immediately put the focus on a stage victory."
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