Roglic and Jumbo-Visma shrug off Nibali's Giro d'Italia mind games
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) seemed unruffled by Vincenzo Nibali's mind games on the long climb of the Col del Nivolet as the race for the maglia rosa in the Giro d'Italia exploded on stage 13. Roglic's disregard for his role as an overall contender was confirmed post-stage and he preferred not to speak to the media after the summit finish, instead quickly changing in to dry clothes and then descending to the Jumbo-Visma team bus parked 25km back down the valley.
While Nibali was fueling their rivalry with accusations that the Slovenian refused to work and refuses to accept his responsibility as an overall contender, Roglic was already on the descent, riding against the direction of the race. His emotions and any doubts or difficulties of the day were, as ever, kept out of view.
Roglic was no doubt pleased to have kept his 1:44 lead on Nibali and perhaps happy that Jan Polanc was still in the race leader's maglia rosa so the UAE Team Emirates squad would take control of the race for as long as possible. Roglic wore the maglia rosa for five days at the start of the race but was happy to let it slip from his grasp on a fast day to San Giovanni Rotondo last Thursday.
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Whatever Nibali may say, Roglic made his race strategy clear when he spoke briefly after the finish in Pinerolo this Thursday.
"The most important thing is to have the jersey in Verona," he said. End of conversation.
After the finish up at Lago Serru, Roglic's silence obliged his Jumbo-Visma directeur sportif Addy Engels to respond to Nibali's provocation.
Changes to the overall classification
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