The stage was characterised by races on two fronts. An early breakaway was left alone and battled for the stage win. Behind them, the favourites kept eyeing each other. Roglic was positioned in the front all day by his Team Jumbo-Visma teammates. On the final climb, he demonstrated that he is doing better day by day since his crash of last Sunday and he tried to test his competitors with a few attacks.

Tomorrow, there will be another tough mountain stage. The Slovenian is 2.16 behind leader Richard Carapaz and only 22 seconds behind Vincenzo Nibali.

“Today was a good day”, Roglic said. “On the final climb I tried to get away twice, but the climb wasn’t difficult enough for that. Tomorrow will be a crucial day with a lot of climbing. I am expecting big time gaps.”

Sports director Addy Engels had seen a combative Roglic. “It gives confidence and courage for the last two days. When you are struggling you don’t think about attacking. Primoz seems to be improving every day since his crash. The Giro is not over yet.”