Watch all the action from the 2023 Giro d'Italia on SBS VICELAND from May 6-28, with all the replays and highlights on plus news, analysis and much more on the SBS Sport website.
Roglič finished the stage four minutes and 34 seconds behind Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), who rode away from the day's breakaway with an attack that no one could match 50 kilometres from the finish line.
But more importantly for Roglič, he finished the stage 14 seconds ahead of second overall, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and 34 seconds ahead of Andreas Leknessund (DSM) whose time in the pink leader's jersey appears to be coming to an end.
With the day's breakaway set to secure the stage victory, Roglič attacked from the group of favourites that were marking each other in a stage characterised by a series of steep climbs near the finish. Initially, he only had Leknessund and Lennard Kämna (BORA-hansgrohe) on his wheel, with Evenepoel not far behind.
After the first duo were dropped, Evenepoel also faded away, and Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart (both INEOS Grenadiers) joined Roglič just before the summit of the final climb. The trio rode to the finish at Fossombrone where the gap back to Evenepoel and a small group of other GC contenders including Australians Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) and Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) was 14 seconds.
"I had good legs today. Luckily I was able to use those good legs to gain some time on some of my rivals," Roglič said.
"I have to take the opportunities that come my way. As soon as I get the chance, I want to make the race hard. I think I did that today. My focus is good, and I am happy with my shape."
Roglič moved from fifth to third overall and sits 38 seconds behind Leknessund before tonight's 35-kilometre individual time trial from Savignano sul Rubicone to Cesena.
"The competition is also strong. They showed that today. They say the time trial tomorrow will be flat. That will be good for the legs,” Roglic said.
"We will concentrate on ourselves. We have no influence on the competition’s performance," said Jumbo-Visma sports director Marc Reef, speaking about tonight's time trial.
"Today Primoz confirmed his excellent shape. So we look forward to tomorrow with confidence."
Evenepoel holds on to second overall, eight seconds behind the maglia rosa of Leknessund. His inability to hold on to Roglič's acceleration puts the world champion under pressure heading into the second week of the Giro.
“It just wasn’t my best day. I tried to follow Roglič and made a mistake by pushing too hard instead of riding at my own pace," Evenepoel said.
"The legs didn’t quite feel like on the other days, but there is no need to panic, I just have to remain calm and focused. The Giro is still long. Today was just another valuable lesson that I learned.
"Fortunately, I still have an advantage of half a minute on the general classification and hopefully on Sunday I will manage to gain more time on the others.”
Leknessund was relieved to hold on to the pink leader's jersey for another day, despite finishing five minutes and eight seconds behind stage-winner Healy.
"I knew I had to go as fast as I can to the top," Leknessund said.
"In the end, I kept the jersey and I'm really happy and proud of how we rode as a team and also that I got the chance to really fight for it like I had to today.
"We can expect that I will lose the jersey tomorrow so it's super nice to finish with a proper fight like I had today."
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) holds fourth overall, 40 seconds behind Leknessund, while Thomas climbed one position to fifth, 52 seconds behind the leader.
Australians Haig and Vine sit in 13th and 14th overall ahead of tonight's fast and flat 35-kilometre individual time trial, which will provide the next big indication of who will claim the 2023 Giro d'Italia title overall.
Watch stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia LIVE tonight from 21:00 (AEST) on SBS On Demand and SBS VICELAND.
