It is, after his three victories in the Vuelta, the fourth victory in a Grand Tour for the Jumbo-Visma rider. He is only fourteen seconds ahead of Britain's Geraint Thomas, very dignified in defeat and a luxury driver on Sunday to take his compatriot Mark Cavendish to a seventeenth victory in the Giro.

For Roglic, 33, this Roman triumph has a very special flavour, three years after experiencing a nightmare in the Tour of France when, yellow jersey for eleven days, he was knocked down by Tadej Pogacar during a tragic time trial on the eve of the finish.

The revenge is all the sweeter because he lived this time the scenario in reverse. He took power over the Giro on Saturday by robbing Welshman Geraint Thomas of his pink jersey on a final hill time in the frightening Monte Lussari, in front of thousands of Slovenian fans in trance.

Including - incredible wink of fate - one of his former teammates of the junior national ski jumping team, Mitja Meznar, who happened to be right at the place where he experienced a chain jump and who helped him leave.

"The emotions I experienced yesterday on Mount Lussari will remain engraved for life. I will never forget. It was super amazing," Roglic insisted.

Britain's Mark Cavendish wins the 21st and final stage of the Giro in a sprint on May 28, 2023 in Rome © Luca Bettini / AFP

On Sunday, the last stage, a friendly parade on his beautiful pink bike in the postcard setting of the eternal city, was a formality. Roglic finished warm in the peloton, sprinted by Cavendish under a bright sun.

Extraordinary season

The coronation of Roglic, one of cycling's fantastic six, is the barley point of an extraordinary first half of the season. The Slovenian simply won the three races he has contested this year, Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour of Catalonia and the Giro.

Brilliant shots that come to fill a trophy cabinet already well filled and in which there is little more missing than the Tour de France that he could compete this year, even if the plans of his team remain unclear in this regard.

Britain's Geraint Thomas (l) in discussion with Primoz Roglic before the start of the 21st and final stage, on May 28, 2023 in Rome © Luca Bettini / AFP

Roglic was the big favorite of this Giro with Remco Evenepoel, before a positive Covid-19 test of the Belgian after ten days deprived the race of the announced duel.

The Giro d'Italia then sank into a certain boredom in terms of the fight for the general classification. Despite, or perhaps because of, a very difficult course, especially in the third week, the main favorites spent their time marking themselves in sometimes apocalyptic weather conditions, in the cold and in pouring rain.

While the abandonments multiplied, Roglic was not spared either. Even before the start, four of his teammates had to be replaced because of a positive test for Covid-19.

The peloton of the Giro passes in front of the Colosseum, on May 28, 2023 in Rome © Luca Bettini / AFP

"We had to change the selection in disaster, we were already happy to be able to start at eight," recalled Sunday his sporting director Marc Reef praising the strength of character of his leader, still involved in two falls that earned him a deep gash in the hip.

Falls and injuries are an integral part of the Slovenian's career. Long cursed, he took a brilliant revenge on fate Sunday in Rome.

© 2023 AFP