Giro d'Italia: 'Mind-blowing' backstory of mystery fan who ran to help Primoz Roglic

Published 28/05/2023 at 15:19 GMT

Primoz Roglic has had more than his share of rotten luck over the years and it looked like another sorry chapter was being written when his chain slipped off at a terrible time at the Giro d’Italia on Saturday. But the Slovenian managed to quickly fix the mechanical and remount his bike as he set about unseating Geraint Thomas from the lead of the race – with help from a familiar face…

‘No. no, no, no, no!’ - Roglic drops chain in dramatic moment at Giro d’Italia

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) was sent a guardian angel to help salvage his Giro d’Italia dream on Saturday – none other than his former ski jumping team-mate, Mitja Meznar.

The Slovenian’s dream of winning a maiden Giro looked in disarray when his chain came off on the individual time trial, with the odds already stacked against him as he aimed to overturn a 26-second deficit on Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in the leader’s pink jersey.

Roglic hopped off his bike and frantically set about putting his chain back on as a Jumbo-Visma mechanic appeared on the scene to assist. But at the top of the hill, a man in a red t-shirt was also running down to get involved.

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As Roglic remounted, the Jumbo mechanic and mystery fan gave him a big push as he resumed his improbable mission.

The setback seemed to only inspire him further as with seemingly most of his fellow Slovenians roaring him up the punishing slopes of Monte Lussari, he powered to the finish in a time of 44’23” – well clear of anyone before him.

Only Thomas could pop Roglic’s pink party but the Welshman, who turned 37 earlier in the week, flagged in the final kilometres as he was forced to settle for second on the stage and, crucially, in the GC.

After the dust settled on a dramatic day at the Giro, attention turned to the man in the red t-shirt. Did he look familiar, at least to fans of Slovenian ski jumping?

Rumours began to circulate that it was Meznar, who won gold alongside Roglic at the Ski Jumping World Championships in 2007. The pair also competed together at Roglic’s last competition in Tarvisio before he switched to cycling.

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Meznar later appeared on Slovenian radio station Val 202 to confirm his unlikely role in Roglic’s win.

"It was completely subconscious. When I saw that he was on the ground and had a mechanical, I was shocked,” Meznar said.

“But then I reacted completely instinctively and tried to get him back in motion as soon as possible to continue his fight. The whole thing unfolded extremely quickly."

Roglic’s win on Saturday banished memories from the 2020 Tour de France, when he to Tadej Pogacar on the final competitive stage – fittingly, also an uphill individual time trial.

“You couldn’t script that better, even if you wanted to,” said Jens Voigt on The Breakaway ahead of Stage 21 on Sunday.

“It is absolutely mind-blowing to think of the chances. That would be like winning the lottery five times in a week. It’s absolutely fantastic.”

His career has been blighted by incident and injury, with the 33-year-old arriving at the Giro with three DNFs in his last four Grand Tour outings.

“That was a random incident with the right man in the right place at the right time with his ex-ski team-mate on the hill,” said Robbie McEwen.

“But just knowing Primoz’s history and things that have gone wrong, I wonder if they were standing at 200m intervals on the mountain, going ‘something will happen to Primoz, we just know it!’”

Meznar competed for Slovenia at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

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