“I clearly didn’t have the legs" - Primoz Roglic suffering from bad back but survives first show of weakness at 2024 Vuelta a Espana

After his brilliant stage win on Saturday afternoon, many expected Primoz Roglic to put in a similar performance on Sunday's stage 9 at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana. That wasn't quite how things turned out for the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader however.

“I clearly didn’t have the legs," admits the Slovenian in his post-stage interview having seen Enric Mas ride away on the final climb (although things regrouped on the descent) and lost time to Adam Yates, Richard Carapaz and even lost 4 seconds Ben O'Connor in the finale.

Roglic does at least, seem to understand the reason for his relative weakness. "I had back pain,” he admits honestly. “It was also still warm, really tough. But we’ll see how that goes. I suffered. The stage was very difficult, but luckily it’s over and tomorrow we have a rest day.”

"I don't know. I don't know the differences yet, so it's difficult to talk about that now," continued Roglic. "I want to cool down first and have a drink."

Well, now the dust has settled, things haven't actually turned out to badly for the three-time Vuelta a Espana winner. Still 2nd overall, Roglic is now 4 seconds further behind O'Connor, but other than that, the likes of Yates and Carapaz remain behind him in the general classification.