The 2019 Giro d’Italia’s first leader, Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo-Visma) offered no clues whatsoever as to whether he and his team would be focussed on defending the lead he gained in emphatic fashion on Saturday’s opening time trial.
The unwritten textbook of cycling strategy suggests that Roglič could try to ‘loan out' the pink jersey in the first week of the Giro d’Italia, in a bid to ease the pressure on his team.
But the 29-year-old resorted to the tried-and-tested cliche of ‘day by day’ when asked repeatedly on the subject by reporters after his stage one victory and first ever lead in a Grand Tour.
“We’ll see how the race goes,” Roglič argued, whilst recognising that his advantage of nearly 20 seconds on second-placed Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) in such a short distance was a “good one. It’s better to have it than to be 20 seconds behind.
“But tomorrow [Sunday] is a new stage, we’ll start it then and I’m ready for that.”
Roglič was much more communicative about his feelings on taking a pink jersey that narrowly escaped his grasp back in 2016 in the opening time trial of the Giro d’Italia, his debut at the race.
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