“I actually didn’t feel so good,” Primoz Roglic told a teammate shortly after the finish. A terrifying thought, because the Slovenian was clearly the strongest on the steep wall to the finish, even though Enric Mas made a creditable effort to put him in the spotlight.
The hunger of the two tenors ensured that escapee Magnus Cort was caught in the last straight line, in contrast to the 6th stage, when Roglic came just too late to overrule the Dane.
Cort was the strongest of a group of refugees, including the Belgians Harm Vanhoucke and Edward Planckaert. They had to get off on the 2nd category climb about twenty kilometers from the end.
Jasper Philipsen was the one who hadn’t been there for a long time. The sprinter of Alpecin-Fenix would have liked to have increased his total of 2 victories, but a flu decides otherwise. Philipsen has packed his bags and is now focusing on the rest of the season.
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Primoz Roglic, as usual, spoke more with the pedals than with his mouth. “I knew this finish would suit me,” he said as he finished the race. “I have suffered a lot, but still had enough left for the win.”
Roglic did have nice words for his competitors. “Cort was strong again. Last time he was 1st and I 2nd, now the roles were reversed. Mas also made a strong impression at the end. Fortunately I had just a little more left.”
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