Primož Roglič rides to his first victory

First part of the stage was again defined by a strong wind that split the peloton in several groups. Second part was more to Adria Mobil’s taste, especially to Primož Roglič likings. He attacked on the last climb, about 20 km to the finish. Austrian William Clarce was the only one who followed and his award is the overall lead.

Primož Roglič: “Again it was a hard race against wind. I was left behind, but managed to get to the front after the main group stopped on the feed zone. Later on the downhill I found myself in the lead, with William as only rider behind me. It was hard, but the award makes everything worthwhile. I even surprised myself.”

It was a very successful day for Adria Mobil. The team got the stage victory, but also all the best riders went up on the overall standings. Matej Mugerli is now third, Radoslav Rogina fourth and Klemen Štimulak sixth.

Riders will face 180 km long stage tomorrow and again we can expect good results from the team. The stage will finish with the climb in Quabala, with the altitude of 800 meters.

Team manager Boštjan Mervar: “We finally benefit from active racing. Primož was in the bad situation in the first part of the race, when the wind blew the peloton apart. After 50 kilometers he was in the third group with the gap of 2 minutes. Fajt had a puncture in the worst moment and lost all chances for a good result. Caja Rural riders then bridged the gap, Roglič was also in their group, and they caught the main group around the 90th kilometer. The road went down after that and in this moment Roglič took a small lead and made it to second category climb alone. He attacked with everything he had, was joined by Clack and they continued the race together. Main group started to look at each other and soon they had a 2-minute lead. The chase was now on, but the two were working together and continued with strong pace. Austrian was in a fight for the leaders jersey, Primož had his first victory in reach. Only about 20 riders were left in the main group, among them were also three Adria riders. The attack was even stronger in the last 4 kilometers, but they managed to cross the finish line 10 seconds ahead of the group. Mugerli was 4th! Now we are in the battle for jerseys, Roglič can take the mountains classification, Mugerli the points classifications.”

Links:
Results – Stage 2
Results – Overall standings

Srečko Glivar
Photos by Mario Stiehl