The stage to Fossombrone involved a lot of climbing. A leading group got a maximum of nine minutes, after which Team Jumbo-Visma took the lead in the peloton. After the leading group had been reeled in, Roglic left a great impression. On the final climb, he opened the attacks himself after preparatory work by Robert Gesink. Lutsenko was already alone in the lead at that moment.

However, it was not all good for Team Jumbo-Visma. Tony Martin and Laurens De Plus both crashed during a descent, which wrecked De Plus’ own GC ambitions. They both continued, however, and finished the stage. Koen Bouwman had to abandon the race with lower back problems.

“It was a long, tough stage”, Roglic said. “Of course you always want to win, but second is not bad either. I’ve done well regarding my GC and I’ve taken valuable time on many of my competitors. Of course you have to watch out for a possible bad day. But today was good. My form is good and I will do everything in my power to win this Tirreno. The team is very strong and everyone is doing their job perfectly.”

Sports director Addy Engels saw that his leader left a very strong impression. “What Primoz showed today is very strong. If you see how he places that attack, it means he still had some power left. Primoz is in a good shape and knows when to put extra effort. It all is looking good at the moment.”