"Ultimately, it's all about who's on top after 21 days" - Primoz Roglic shrugs 43-second loss to Remco Evenepoel

Primoz Roglic was a big favourite to win the opening time-trial. He put in a solid ride but has sustained almost a minute of loss to Remco Evenepoel, not a large gap in the bigger picture of the Giro d'Italia but significant already for the first day of racing.

"The legs felt good; I'm happy with that. I rode as fast as I could, and after today, I am optimistic. There are still 20 stages to go," Roglic said in a press release. After a shoulder operation this winter put him in a difficult position when it came to the time-trial bike earlier in the year, the issues seem to have been worked through. The Slovenian put in big miles on the bike at his recent training camp in Tenerife, but that wasn't enough to contain the attack of Evenepoel.

The Jumbo-Visma rider rode to sixth on the day, 43 seconds down on Evenepoel and 14 seconds down on João Almeida who was the next of the GC contenders. On paper, the Slovenian did not take advantage of the day, with Tao Geoghegan Hart also taking time. It does not mean the same situation will take place on stage 9's 35-kilometer time-trial, but now Roglic is being forced to use the mountains as his weapon to win time.

"Of course, you want to finish ahead of your rivals, but this is a solid result. I'm not three minutes down," Rogllic adds, shrugging off the pressure from the first of 21 days in this Grand Tour. He prefers to look at the bigger picture. "Evenepoel was faster today. Ultimately, it's all about who's on top after 21 days, and I don't think I could have gone faster."