Geraint Thomas saw the pink jersey snatched away on the penultimate day of the Giro d’Italia as Primoz Roglic overcame a mechanical problem to win a punishing time trial to the summit of Monte Lussari.
Roglic dropped his chain midway up the cruel concrete road to the top but still had enough in reserve to beat Thomas by 40 seconds, overturning the 26-second advantage the Welshman took into the day.
And that gives the Slovenian a 14-second lead ahead of Sunday’s flat run into Rome, the title his barring any incident. For Thomas, it dashes his dream of become the oldest ever winner of the Giro in the week he celebrated his 37th birthday.
But for Roglic it was redemption, three years after he lost the lead of the Tour de France one day before Paris on a mountain time trial to La Planche des Belles Filles.