Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) lost 1:30 to his Giro d'Italia general classification rivals on stage 15 to Asiago, slipping to tenth, 3:53 down on Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
His hopes of overall victory appear gone, with his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team openly admitting that his injuries could mean Roglič is pulled from the Giro on medical grounds.
"There is no point in hiding anymore that he doesn't feel well, that he's in pain. We tried to downplay it a little, and it worked until today, but today we saw the truth," directeur sportif Christian Pömer told the Cycling Podcast and other media.
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"We saw a big champion fighting with a great team spirit. In the end, we lost a lot of time, but that's how it is."
The exact extent of Roglič's injuries are not known. He seemed fine before the stage and survived the steady pace of the peloton and even Egan Bernal's attack on the Monte Grappa climb. He was then distanced on the final to the Asiago plateau and struggled to stay with his teammates.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe seemed concerned about Roglič's injuries and rightly put his health before any suggestion of him riding on in massive pain.
Pömer did not rule out Roglič abandoning the Giro. Any decision might only be made during Monday's rest day, but it will be considered.
"I think it's more of a medical decision now, when he's in pain, health comes first, that's what Red Bill-Bora-Hansgrohe stands for," Pömer explained.
"It's not my decision to withdraw a rider from the race; there are clear rules in the team that the medical team takes the decision together with the athlete."
Roglič did not stop beyond the finish line, riding quickly to the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team bus parked three kilometres away. He was chased by the TNT Sports camera crew, but only said, "I’m just happy that I finished."
He has kept a low profile since his crash on the gravel roads of Tuscany last Sunday. He went down on his left side during Saturday's high-speed crash in Gorizia, and so has now crashed three times in this year's Giro.
"In Grand Tours, there's a rule that to recover from a crash, you need a week. It's simply a mathematical thing that it's not going to work out easily," Pömer suggested.
"We hoped until today. Today, we saw that he did not recover in time."
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