Primoz Roglic believes he lost the Giro d'Italia because his rivals raced for him to lose rather than racing to win themselves. Talking to the Slovenian Press Association, Roglic told how his lack of Jumbo-Visma teammates in the high mountains and his form leading into the race affected his chances of taking the Maglia Rosa.
'The difference with the other favourites was that I was left alone in the key moments. And everybody raced against me,' said Roglic.
'That was the difference. Everybody was afraid of me, they all knew I was a problem and they raced so as to prevent me from winning.'
Roglic eventually finished third overall, his first career Grand Tour podium, although looked to struggle in the final week's mountain stages.
Unlike eventual winner Richard Carapaz and runner-up Vincenzo Nibali, the pre-Giro injury of Robert Gesink and Stage 7 departure of Laurens De Plus left Roglic without mountain domestiques.
Team director Andy Engels also thought Roglic was left isolated in the mountains, admitting a stronger team could have got him closer to the overall victory.
'I cannot say that we would have won Giro with more support in the mountains, but we would certainly be closer. We would not be losing minutes. But I believe that Primoz was good in the hills and mountains,' said Engels.
Roglic also addressed the visible grumble that developed between him and Nibali throughout the race. Nibali accused Roglic of sitting on his wheel, rather than riding his own race, taking a swipe at Roglic's lack of Grand Tour success.
The tensions deepened when Nibali seemed to snub Roglic on the winner's podium in Verona, something that the Slovenian confirmed although said had not affected their overall relationship.
'We talk normally, we also congratulated each other yesterday,' said Roglic of Nibali. 'At the winners' podium I got ready for him to congratulate me, but he did not. Still, there is no problem between us.'
Some expected Roglic to piggyback from the Giro into the Jumbo-Visma team for the Tour de France but it was yesterday confirmed the 29-year-old would skip the race with the team focusing on Steven Kruijswijk and Dylan Groenewegen instead.
Roglic was also keen to skip the Tour to focus on another priority in his life, becoming a father, with his partner expecting to give birth to their first child soon.