Geraint Thomas suffers Giro d’Italia heartbreak as he loses out to Primoz Roglic in final stage by just 14 seconds
GERAINT THOMAS suffered heartbreak as he lost out on Giro D’Italia glory by 14 seconds.
The 2018 Tour de France champion was leading the race going into the penultimate stage, aiming to become the oldest winner of this grand tour.
Thomas, 37, held a 26-second lead over rival Primosz Roglic and had held the coveted pink jersey for the majority of the race.
But G finished 40 seconds behind Roglic in the mountain time trial so it will be the Slovenian who rides into Rome in pink tomorrow.
Roglic was cheered to victory by thousands of fans given its proximity to the Slovenian border — won the stage with gradients of 22% in a time of 44 minutes and 23 seconds.
The 33-year-old almost blew his chances after a mechanical issue caused him to lose around 15 seconds in the final kilometres.
He powered his way through and won the stage, with Thomas slowing and showing fatigue on the final climb.
It is a gut-wrenching end to the Giro for the Welshman, who had got the better of Roglic in several stages.
But he was gracious in defeat and congratulated Roglic after his monstrous performance.
Thomas said: “If you had told me [second] back in Feb-March I would have bit your hand off. But now I’m devastated.
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“It’s better to lose by this much then by a second or two. At least, Primoz smashed me.
“To be honest, Primoz deserves it. Mechanical as well, chapeau to him.”
Thomas even beat Roglic by 16 seconds in stage nine’s time trial, but did not have the legs when it mattered most on the Monte Lussari.
The Giro will conclude with Sunday’s procession stage into Rome, with Roglic set to wear the maglia rosa for the first time in this edition of the race.
The Eternal City will provided a glorious backdrop to a gladtiroial battle between two legendary cyclist and the finish line is at the Colosseum.
Roglic now adds the Giro to his star-studded palmares, having also won the Vuelta a Espana on three occasions.
He also knows what it is like to suffer heartbreak in a final time trial, having lost out on the 2020 Tour de France to Tadej Pogacar in similar circumstances.