"I'm still on my way back" - Primoz Roglic works through difficulties to take impressive second win at Tirreno-Adriatico

Primoz Roglic won today's fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico atop the race's longest ascent. It was a dramatic win in which he managed to perform at a high level and jump into the race lead.

After winning the hilltop finish to Tortoreto it had became apparent that he was back to good form, but today's long climb was a different challenge. However, Roglic passed it with a good note. Although he was not able to follow the attacks late in the final climb, the strong wind was very damaging for the attackers and the GC riders ended up sprinting to the line.

“Yes, it was much heavier than yesterday. I'm still on my way back. Kelderman helped me on the climb and in the end he also made sure that I had the chance to sprint," the Slovenian recounts. Having beaten Giulio Ciccone and Tao Geoghegan Hart in the final sprint, he proved once again his worth and explosivity, whilst jumping into the race lead as he gathered 10 more seconds to his tally.

“It's really crazy. It was a very tough day. The wind was very intense. It was also very cold, so I had to put on a lot of layers. It was also dangerous at times in the descents. I think we are also the only race that has finished today," Roglic concluded. He now leads Lennard Kämna by 4 seconds, but has 16 riders within 1 minute with the very dangerous 'muro' stage to be ridden tomorrow.