"Sometimes you gain some seconds and sometimes you lose some" - Primoz Roglic shows face at intermediate sprint to gain handful of bonus seconds

Despite not much drama taking place during stage 12 of the 2023 Vuelta a Espana, Primoz Roglic showed his face late on at the intermediate sprint to pinch four seconds in bonus seconds.

In the grand scheme of things, four seconds might not sound like much of a difference but as Roglic has found out in past Grand Tours, every second can be vital. "We'll see," he says, keeping his cards close to his chest in a post-stage interview. “I don't care if it took a lot of energy.”

Finishing second behind the Green Jersey wearer, Kaden Groves, Roglic was happy to pick up the seconds on offer. “But I was in the right position and then you go for it," he says. "Sometimes you gain some seconds and sometimes you lose some seconds. The fact that I am now taking a few seconds is very nice.”

With a monster day of mountains to come on stage 13, bigger time gaps than four seconds are expected, as Roglic himself admits. “We'll see what it's worth,” the Jumbo-Visma man concludes. “Tomorrow the differences will be a lot bigger, I think. We'll all see.”