Primož Roglič wins the Milano-Torino presented by EOLO 2021
Primož Roglič, already winner of the Vuelta and, most recently, of the Giro dell’Emilia, claimed one more victory atop Superga, overlooking the city of Turin. He beat Adam Yates in a final duel after Deceuninck-Quick Step shook up the race earlier on to create a front group of top champions. Joao Almeida managed to round out the podium with the help of world champion Julian Alaphilippe. Alaphilippe only relented in the final kilometres, just before the finish line atop Superga, after his team had worked hard during the first ascent to keep him in the first positions of the group. Almeida outclassed Tadej Pogacar on the hilltop finish. Michael Woods crossed the line in fifth. The world’s oldest classic is Roglic’s thirteenth victory of the 2021 season.
FINAL RESULT
1 – Primož Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) – 189km in 4h17’41”, average speed 44.240 km/h
2 – Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) at 12’’
3 – João Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) at 35’’
Primož Roglic, the winner
The winner of the 102nd Milano-Torino presented by Eolo, Primož Roglič, said in the post-race press conference: “I didn’t have much time to think when Deceuninck-Quick Step made a move. If you think, you’re already in the second group. I was not ready for it. It was super hard from the moment they went for it. It looks like I’m getting better and better in one-day races. I knew what to expect when I came to Italy for the last races of the year and they’re the races I prefer. It doesn’t matter if today’s win makes me the main favourite for Il Lombardia. We’ll all start from scratch again. I’ve won a beautiful race today, I’m super happy with it and it gives the team a good morale boost for Saturday. We can expect a move from Remco Evenepoel. Hopefully I’ll have the legs and the team to compete against him.”
Second place, Adam Yates, said: “I had a good ride but in the end the strongest guy won. I tried to go from the bottom because, over the last few races, I’ve waited, but Primoz just goes with 500m to go and wins. It’s hard to beat him, and in the end he just had the better legs. I did the best I could, but we’ll try again on Saturday.”
Third-place, João Almeida, said: “Adam and Primoz were just on another level today. I did everything I could to follow them but I just couldn’t do it. In the end, I’m proud to take third place. I had a ‘healthy’ fight with Tadej Pogacar for the podium – he’s a really nice guy. In the last 600m, we both saw that we wouldn’t catch the two in front and so we competed for third. I’d like to thank my team, they did some amazing work today.”
