Thomas is 14 seconds down on Roglic. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) is still third after the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023, having also finished behind the two top favourites on Rosa in the daily classification. Even a defect could not stop Roglic on his road to victory. Shortly after the second intermediate time, his chain came off his bike. He lost a few seconds, but this only seemed to motivate him all the more to forget the trauma of losing his Tour de France victory in 2020 in the final mountain time trial to the Planche des Belles Filles.
Fans deliver "extra watts" for Roglic, Thomas "pretty disappointed"
"It's unbelievable. I lost my chain, but I put it back on. I could have lost everything, but that's part of this race. The fans gave with a few extra watts. One more day. It's not over until it's over. But it looks good," said Roglic at the finish.
"Somehow I didn't have the right pressure on the pedals," Thomas searched for an explanation. "I'd rather lose with a gap like that than with one or two seconds. And then he deserves it. If someone had predicted second place for me in March, I would have been delighted. But now I'm really quite disappointed."
The top 10 of the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 44:23
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:40
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +0:43
- Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:50
- Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +0:59
- Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +1:05
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) +1:07
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grandiers) +1:18
- Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) +1:49
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) +1:53
Kämna slips to 9th place, but is "satisfied"
Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) has to settle for 9th place in the overall standings of the Giro d'Italia 2023 after finishing 14th in the day's classification and 2:18 minutes behind Roglic. The German time trial champion lost another position and had to let Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) pass him.
"As expected, it was a really difficult time trial. We prepared well for it and knew that I had a good chance of doing well here," Kämna was quoted as saying in a statement from his team. "What more can I say, except that I gave everything on this last and decisive day for the overall standings and can therefore be satisfied with my performance."
Thibaut Pinot, on the other hand, continued to climb, finishing the 2023 Giro d'Italia not only in the mountains jersey after a strong time trial on stage 20, but also in fifth place overall. Like Thymen Arensman, he overtook Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla), who conceded 3:03 minutes to Roglic, but defended one second on Leknessund in seventh overall.
The overall standings after the 20th stage
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 82:40:36
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:14
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +1:15
- Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +4:40
- Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) +5:43
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) +6:05
- Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla) +7:30
- Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) +7:31
- Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) +7:46
- Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) +9:08
This is how the 20th stage of the 2023 Giro d'Italia went
The riders from the first starting block in particular - the time trial was split into three parts so that there was time in between to get the support bikes off the mountain again - had fun despite the tough day in front of the impressive backdrop on Monte Lussari. Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team) clapped with the fans shortly before the finish, Laurenz Rex (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) crossed the finish line with a wheelie.
Nicolas Dalla Valle (Corratec - Selle Italia), who had started first, also delivered the first time at the summit with 55:03 minutes - an average of 20.2 km/h. But that didn't last long. But that didn't last long. The best time from the first block was set by Thibault Guernelac (Arkea-Samsic) with 48:35 minutes.
Americans deliver top times in a row
First Thomas Champion (Cofidis) was able to beat this mark by 19 seconds, but this time did not last long, because then came Matthew Riccitello (Israel - Premier Tech). The American pulverised the Frenchman's mark and was almost two minutes faster (46:19 minutes). The duo finished the second block at the top of the intermediate classification.
It needed a Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) to oust the 21-year-old from the top spot. But the Australian was also only three seconds faster. Shortly afterwards, it was Vine's team-mate Brandon McNulty who made things clearer and set a new standard time of 45:30. Another American was able to go one better. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) was another two seconds faster.
In the meantime, the top 3 were also through at the first intermediate time. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) had made up two seconds on Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), with Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) a further two seconds behind. So it remained close.
Defect on Roglic does not stop
Roglic had delivered a real mark at the second intermediate time. He had already made up 16 seconds on Thomas there. But shortly afterwards he had a moment of shock. The chain jumped off his bike at a covered gutter on the road. But the Slovenian quickly fumbled it back on and only lost a little time.
So little that he already had a 29-second lead over Thomas at the third split time despite the mishap - and had thus already turned the 26-second gap before the start into a small lead.
While Thinaut Pinot (Groupama FDJ) had previously set a new best time of 45:22 minutes, which Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) first beat by four seconds and then Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) by another 13 seconds (45:05 minutes), Roglic then pulverised the time. Supported by thousands of Slovenian fans in the finish area, he delivered a time of 44:23 seconds - a time that would also give Thomas a run for his money.
