cycling
Roglic wins 106th Giro – Kämna ninth
Primoz Roglic (centre) from Slovenia won the 106th Giro. photo
© Alessandra Tarantino/AP/dpa
After three victories at the Vuelta a España, Primoz Roglic triumphed for the first time at the Giro d’Italia. The second most important state tour is also a success from a German point of view.
Primoz Roglic was the first Slovenian to win the Giro d’Italia. As expected, the 33-year-old did not let himself be denied the triumph on the last stage to Rome on Sunday and ended up 14 seconds ahead of Brit Geraint Thomas.
Third went to Portugal’s Joao Almeida, 1:15 back. Bremen’s Lennard Kämna, who drove a grand tour of the country for the first time overall, needed 7:46 minutes more than Roglic for the total of around 3450 kilometers and finished ninth.
The 126-kilometer last stage, starting and finishing in Rome, was a matter for the sprinters. Former world champion Mark Cavendish, who announced his retirement at the end of the season during the Giro, asserted himself confidently. Pascal Ackermann lost every chance of his second day’s success after a fall about 100 meters from the finish line.
Germans with success
From a German point of view, it was ultimately a successful Giro. Kämna made it into the top ten of the overall classification as the seventh German. Surprisingly, Nico Denz celebrated two stage wins, Pascal Ackermann also achieved a long-awaited success. In addition, the man from the Palatinate sprinted into the top ten three more times. The only 22-year-old Marius Mayrhofer also managed four places in the top ten.
Roglic only secured the leader’s pink jersey on the penultimate stage. Ironically, in a mountain time trial near his home country, the veteran caught up 26 seconds behind Thomas. Three years ago, on the penultimate day of the Tour de France, Roglic went first in the mountain time trial to Planche des Belle Filles and was ultimately unable to maintain a lead of 57 seconds over his compatriot Tadej Pogacar.