Primoz Roglic closer and closer to the red jersey - "Sometimes you win something, sometimes you lose something. Today I was on the right side"

Primoz Roglic didn't look sharp into Granada in the high mountains but the downhill finish saved him from the attack of Enric Mas. On the contrary, today it was the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe rider who went on the attack and dropped the competition at the Puerto de Ancares to move closer to the race lead.

“Sometimes you win something, sometimes you lose something. Today I was on the right side,” Roglic said in a post-race interview. The German team remained out of the wind all day long and moved to the front towards the bottom of the final five-kilometer climb. It was a good tactic it turned out, as the incredibly high pace put most under a lot of difficulty right away. Roglic thrived in the constant and steep climb that offered no restbite whatsoever.

“I don't have full self-confidence yet. That's why we rode a bit conservatively. We'll take it day by day and see how it goes," he explains. Many hard days remain so Roglic is certainly not in a safe position, but he has gotten himself as the main favourite to win the race once again. He rode his rivals off the wheel including the threatening Enric Mas that exploded and lost 58 seconds at the line.

Furthermore, Ben O'Connor experienced another difficult day and lost a whole 1.55 minutes at the top of the climb. The Slovenian didn't focus on his rival however: “Not really. The only thing I can influence is myself. I try to do my best, together with the team. And it was enough.”

Now Roglic continues to sit second in GC but only with 1:21 minutes to take back on the Australian - and a bigger gap to Mas who sits third. “Yes, but like I said: let’s enjoy this first. It's nice to gain some time, it's nice when things go well, but I also feel heavy efforts like this. We have to take it day by day," he concluded.