"The legs felt good; I'm happy with that", a relatively satisfied Roglic said. The 33-year-old leader also saw his teammates put in a solid time trial. Roglic is confident about his form. "I rode as fast as I could, and after today, I am optimistic. There are still 20 stages to go."

"Of course, you want to finish ahead of your rivals", said Roglic, referring to his gap to Evenepoel. "But this is a solid result. I'm not three minutes down. Evenepoel was faster today. Ultimately, it's all about who's on top after 21 days, and I don't think I could have gone faster."

A remarkable story is that of Tom Gloag. The 21-year-old British rider was a last-minute replacement for the injured Jan Tratnik. Gloag had a hectic day. "I had turned my phone off for a four-hour training session. When I came back, I had a lot of missed calls. I called sports director Grischa Niermann, who told me to come to Italy. I started packing my bags and arrived at the hotel around 3am."

"I am really looking forward to the next few weeks, but at the same time, I feel sorry for Jan", Gloag continued. "He was an important helper for Primoz. But I’m in good shape."