Tirreno-Adriatico, Primoz Roglic doesn’t hide enthusiasm for double hit

Stage and jersey for Primoz Roglic

Another day, another smile for Primoz Roglic at Tirreno-Adriatico. In fact, double smile because, in addition to replicating Thursday’s stage success by winning twenty-four hours later on the uphill finish (after more than 10 km of final ascent) in Sassotetto, the Slovenian of Jumbo-Visma also leaps to the top of the overall classification of the Corsa dei Due Mari.

At Friday’s stage finish, Roglic moved ahead of Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and Tao Geoghegan-Hart (Ineos Grenadiers). In the overall standings, the three-time Vuelta winner now has a 4-second lead over second, Lennard Kamna of Bora-Hansgrohe, and 12 seconds over Joao Almeida of UAE Team Emirates.

“It was almost unthinkable to get another success after yesterday’s,” Roglic told the press conference, “but at the same time it feels great! The wind was blowing hard all the way from the bottom of the valley, the climb became very hard but we can say that in the end it went well and that Tirreno-Adriatico is the only competition in Europe that made it all the way to the finish line without a hitch. I wasn’t brilliant on the climb but thanks to working together with Wilco Kelderman we gave ourselves a chance to sprint for success. Two wins are far beyond what I expected from this Tirreno. One of the reasons I came here was to ride together with some of the guys I will later be with at the Giro like Wilco and Koen Bouwman. We will do everything we can to defend the jersey tomorrow.”