Lol. On the broadcast I was watching they didn’t show his group much because, you know, they were behind. But from what I saw (and heard from broadcasters), he slotted in behind Almeida for the final bit up the climb and then Caruso led down the descent, and he finished a few behind in the finale, and he DEFINITELY never attacked, unlike Roglic, so maybe we did watch a different race.
I watched a race that didn’t prove Remco was a wheel sucker or Roglic a swaggering hero, but one that showed simplified narratives are misguided and both do what it takes to win.
he didn't slot in behind almeida, he was passed by that group. In the descend Remco went to the front of the group to pull. Caruso went to the front and dropped Remco in the descend. Remco kept riding. In all the shots, it was remco in the lead. Even on the finish line when roglic crossed, you could see remco riding in that groupon the front in the background. It was only at the finish that the others went before him.
Him saying he would have followed Roglic by pacing better , is just puffing his chest and blowing hot air.
What i can believe is that if paced better he wouldn't have cooked himself at the top. But he did follow the correct riding style for the rest of the Giro... don't follow the initial jump and ride your pace and keep as close as possible.
If you are equally on the climbs, you will hold on a few meters.
if you are better you can keep that pace and attack at the end while avoiding the attack/attack during the climb,
if you are worse (like today) it doesn't matter what you do
Roglic was very good, but he also did fall off at the end of the climb, so he probably went a bit to early as well (or he was pushing himself to much to distance Remco who was not that far behind. I' guessing that last acceleration that cooked Remco , semi cooked Roglic)