Waiting for the moment – Primoz Roglic bides time at Giro d'Italia

Things are getting ready to happen at this Giro d'Italia. But not yet.

The sight of Jumbo-Visma's butter-yellow jerseys massed at the front of the peloton on the climb to Roncola Alta briefly suggested that the finale to stage 15 might create some flutters among the overall contenders, but the moment quietly passed.

Later, were some frissons on the short, cobbled climb to Bergamo Alta in the finale, where Primož Roglič was careful to keep a tight rein on the forcing of UAE Team Emirates leader João Almeida, but the pink jersey contenders would all descend together to the finish on Viale Roma. Another stalemate.

Outside the Jumbo-Visma bus afterwards, a RAI television reporter waited for a signal in his earpiece before launching into a brief inquisition of team directeur sportif Marc Reef, broadcast live to the nation.

"The people are waiting on Primož Roglič," he announced grandly.

Reef smiled politely in response. "Yes, I can understand," he said. "And I think that we will see a nice Primož Roglič in the third week." And back to the studio.

Roglič will undoubtedly be satisfied with the lie of the land as the Giro breaks for its second and final rest day. The Slovenian lies third overall, 1:10 behind Groupama-FDJ's maglia rosa Bruno Armirail and, more importantly, just two seconds behind his key rival Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers. The situation is a reassuring one, both in light of the long road ahead in the final week and the rocky path travelled by Roglič and Jumbo-Visma to this point.

"We didn't have to spend a lot of energy yet," Reef told reporters after the live television interlude. "We took the initiative one time on stage 8 to Fossombrone, and Primož showed there that he was strong. And now it's just waiting for the moment.

"So yes, we are content with how it is at the moment, the GC guys are still close together. We are two seconds away from Thomas and everything is ok for the moment."

'The moment'

At the start in a rainy Seregno on Sunday morning, Roglič had suggested that the rugged stage would see skirmishes among the general classification contenders.

In theory, the terrain was there on a course that was presented as a sort of miniature version of the season-closing Monument, Il Lombardia. In practice, the long valleys between the climbs and the short gaps between the GC contenders ensured that the waiting game continued.

"We saw that the parcours had quite some valley roads in between the climbs," Reef said on a day that saw Brandon McNulty win from the early break. "You could attack on the climbs, but it's really difficult to make a big difference afterwards, so the stage was not really suited.

"Groupama-FDJ took control over the day, and they did it in a very good way, it was also not any more for the stage win so in the end it just came down to the final climb. They raced a bit with each other, but it was also too short to really make a big difference."

Roglič's acceleration on I Cappuccini last weekend aside, there has been precious little aggression from the pink jersey contenders on this Giro. Mountain stages to Lago Laceno, Gran Sasso d'Italia and Crans-Montana came and went without forcing any real differences. It's hard to tell if would-be attackers were dissuaded more by the conditions or by the sheer difficulty of what was still to come later in the race.

"With the headwind on the Gran Sasso and the headwind two days ago on Crans-Montana, it was difficult to really make a big difference," Reef said. "Also, the stage to Crans-Montana was shortened. It was supposed to be a 5,000m altitude stage, it was planned to be really hard, but in the end, it was only two climbs and a stage of two hours.

"It's difficult to really make a big difference between the guys. It's just waiting for the last week."

Jumbo-Visma entered this Giro in relative disarray after COVID-19 and crashes forced late revisions to their line-up, but Roglič's guard has looked to be growing in strength as this race progresses. Crucially, the Slovenian still has a full complement of riders around him, while Thomas has lost co-leader Tao Geoghegan Hart and key domestique Filippo Ganna.

It remains to be seen, however, if that numerical superiority will tip the balance when the Giro resumes on Tuesday. Despite the three demanding mountain stages to come, to Monte Bondone, Val di Zoldo and Tre Cime di Lavaredo, it is increasingly hard to shake off the idea that Roglič and Thomas' duel might be decided in the time trial to Monte Lussari on stage 20.

"That's something we will see during the last week," Reef said. "Tuesday will already be a moment where you will see how everyone is, and how the GC contenders are towards each other after such a hard day. And then for sure, Thursday and Friday will be very tough stages with a lot of climbing and with some steep climbs at altitude."

But would Roglič and Jumbo-Visma be happy to start the stage 20 time trial as they are now, more or less level with Thomas?

"It's always better when you have to chance to start with more time to your contenders," Reef said. "But the moment needs to be there, the feeling needs to be there, and the shape needs to be there. All sorts of things play a role there. It's something we will find out."

Like last year, one sense this Giro will hinge on one moment. Until then, the wait continues.