It was one of the most dramatic moments of the Giro d'Italia and the whole year. Primoz Roglic was on his way to seemingly overturn the Giro d'Italia on the last opportunity, but his chain fell amidst the mountain time-trial. Whilst the story had a happy ending for the Slovenian, little did he know the fan who helped him was a former teammate.
During the brutal ascent to Monte Lussari Roglic, who was riding a special cassette provided by Jumbo-Visma specially for the final two stages, saw the chain fall in an incredibly steep section. He was at the time winning around 15 of the 26 seconds he had to make up on Geraint Thomas, and lost around 15 with off the pedals. It seemed to be, briefly, the moment the Giro was decided, however with a home crowd supporting him Roglic flew into a dominating stage win which saw him jump into the race lead.
With limitation on the number of fans allowed up the mountain the roads were empty when the incident happened. A team mechanic quickly arrived to push him, as did a fan who ran down the mountain. Hours after the finale of the stage there was discussion on the effect the fan had on the race, and it was discovered that he had competed alongside Roglic himself in the past.
It was Mitja Meznar, a ski jumper who has in the past jumped alongside Roglic as they are compatriots. It was a turn of events that led to an historical result for Roglic, with many arguing the "cycle is closed" following his heartbreak on the 2020 Planche des Belles Filles time-trial.
This is an amazing story. Apparently, the guy in red shirt jersey who pushed Primoz Roglic after the mechanical was Mitja Mežnar, his former teammate from the Slovenian ski jumping team. And today's stage started in Tarvisio where Rogla won the Junior World Ski-Jumping…
If I'm correct it was Mitja Mežnar...his ex team mate in ski jumping 😉
