Roglic, Cavendish earn Giro wins with unexpected help

The two lives of Primoz Roglic were linked together when a former ski jumping teammate pushed him toward the overall title at the Giro d'Italia.

Mark Cavendish got some help from a former teammate, too, when the British sprinter won the final stage with a leadout from Geraint Thomas — less than a week after announcing that he will retire at the end of the season.

In a sport where meticulous planning can only go so far, it was two unexpected circumstances that propelled Roglic and Cavendish atop the podium.

One of the key moments for Roglic came in Saturday's mountain time trial when he rode over a pothole and his chain popped loose on one of the steepest sections up to Monte Lussari.

After Roglic put the chain back in place by himself and was aided by a Jumbo Visma team staff member, another man wearing a red shirt ran down the mountain and helped push him back into action — and then kept running alongside for encouragement.

Roglic went on to win the penultimate stage and take the pink jersey from Thomas before Sunday's mostly ceremonious ride over the cobblestoned streets of Rome.

Sunday, Roglic confirmed that the man in the red shirt was Mitja Meznar who, along with Roglic, was a member of the Slovenian squad that won a gold medal in team ski jumping at the 2007 junior Nordic world championships in Planica, Slovenia, and Tarvisio — the town where Monte Lussari is located.

“I didn't speak with him yet because yesterday I was too much focused (when) I saw him. I just put my chain back on and I looked down. I was just thinking, `Push, push, push,' ” Roglic said.

“He's a super good friend, you can say my roommate,” Roglic added, marveling that it happened in the same place as their ski jumping title. “So it's just incredible.”

Roglic, 33, stopped ski jumping in 2012 and took up cycling and has now won a fourth Grand Tour to go with his three Spanish Vuelta titles.