It appears race organisers were caught off-guard by Primož Roglič’s nail-biting victory in Tirreno-Adriatico.
The Jumbo-Visma rider took victory from the hands of Adam Yates by one second on the final day time trial.
But while celebrating on the top step of the podium, Roglič was handed the leader’s jersey of his Mitchelton-Scott rival and an awkward exchange ensued.
The Slovenian was given the blue jersey meant for Adam Yates, complete with Mitchelton-Scott branding.
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After pointing out the mistake, Roglič took the jersey in his hands before dropping it on the floor in front of him.
Fortunately the error was later corrected, and Roglič was given the correct jersey so he could pose with the iconic trident race winner’s trophy.
Yates missed out on the biggest stage race victory of his career by less than one second in Tirreno-Adriatico.
The Brit went into the stage seven time trial with a 25-second lead over Roglič, but fell within tenths of a second of victory after the 10km.
Speaking after the stage, Yates said the near miss “left a bad taste in the mouth.”
“We were in the lead for pretty much the whole race,” Yates added. “We won the [stage one] team time trial and went close to two stage wins, why shouldn’t we be happy?”
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He held the blue leader’s jersey through the lower mountains of Le Marche and heading into the final time trial. However, he watched Roglič celebrate on the final podium in San Benedetto del Tronto.
Roglič took his second stage major victory of the year, having already won the UAE Tour earlier this month.
Lotto-Soudal’s Victor Campenaerts took stage glory in the European time trial champion’s jersey, beating the likes of Rohan Dennis (Bahrain-Merida) and Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb).
Roglič will turn his attentions to the Giro d’Italia, where he will lead his Jumbo-Visma team’s overall ambitions.
Yates on the other hand will return to the Tour de France after disappointment last season.
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