"He's a great champion and he knows how to manage" - Giulio Ciccone had rear wheel view of Primoz Roglic's Dauphine struggle on final stage

The 2024 Criterium du Dauphine went all the day down to the final few pedal strokes in a thrillingly dramatic finale on Sunday afternoon as Primoz Roglic fought with all his might to hold onto the Maillot Jaune. Having the best view of Roglic's struggles on the final climb was Giulio Ciccone.

The Italian from Lidl-Trek, was on the back wheel of the BORA - hansgrohe leader on the final climb of the race as Roglic battled to try and limit his losses to Matteo Jorgenson. In the end, despite the precarious nature of the race in the finale, Roglic did just about enough to hold onto the overall win by just 8 seconds from Jorgenson in the end.

"I think he suffered a little bit, but he's a great champion and he knows how to manage," Ciccone recalled in conversation with Cycling Pro Net after the dramatic conclusion of the stage. "He did everything perfectly in the finale."

The attacking on the final climb actually started with Ciccone himself, before the 29-year-old paid for those efforts and went backwards. "We had done a great job with the team, so I had to try, right?" Ciccone laughs. "I had to try and see what happened in the final. In the end I think we had a good stage, a good week. The result wasn't the best, but we can be really happy with the form and the performance we did."

After a rocky start to 2024 that saw Ciccone's season opening delayed due to injury, his main goal for the year is now hotly approaching at the upcoming Tour de France. "I feel really good," he previews. "It's the first real race I've done in a long time, but like I said, the main goal is the Tour in July and the form is already good and improving, so I think it's going to be a really good month in July."