"They managed to camouflage for quite a long time that Roglic was not good, but at some point that is no longer possible" - Thijs Zonneveld on Jumbo-Visma

Jumbo-Visma has worked quite a lot throughout stage 16 at the Giro d'Italia, but the results in the end were far from what was expected. Thijs Zonneveld analyzed the final ascent in which Primoz Roglic struggled, bringing up the signs that the Slovenian was having a hard time in the final ascent.

“I saw race for the first time. No, actually for the second time. I loved to see. Finally! Moreover, the proportions turned out to be different than we had thought beforehand," Thijs Zonneveld said in the In Het Wiel podcast. "Jumbo-Visma was incredibly dominant and all-consuming during the stage. At least that's how they rode around... But in this stage the cracks in Roglic's armor were visible. When Rohan Dennis went off the front, a good Roglic would immediately leave the front work to Sepp Kuss. But that didn't happen. When UAE turned it on, Kuss fluttered straight to it, but Roglic was just too slow."

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The change of lead in the peloton up Monte Bondone was a sign, but the pace did not come down at the time as UAE Team Emirates picked it up and attacked themselves. The hard pace up the 22-kilometer ascent saw João Almeida and Geraint Thomas take 25 seconds on the road on Roglic, who now sits third in the overall classification. "When you started after the bends, you saw that Roglic had to give in a meter every time. At times Kuss started to push the pace, instead of speeding up."

"He did that to give Roglic a breather. Such things also showed a lesser Roglic. They managed to camouflage for quite a long time that Roglic was not good, but at some point that is no longer possible," Zonneveld believes. "Thomas picked that up and he is then experienced enough to know that he has to accelerate himself." The losses were not dramatic, but it will psychologically be a hit as well to the Dutch team who may not repeat the same tactics. 

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"It's not what we expected" - Jumbo-Visma disappointed after day-long work at Giro d'Italia sees Primoz Roglic loses time

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