As Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) well knows, it's never enough. The Slovenian, who had a dominant time trial in Pau on stage 10 of the Vuelta a España that gave him a nearly two-minute lead on the overall leader, held a similar lead at the same point in this year's Giro d'Italia and reached Verona in third place overall.

"That's just the way it is. Even if you have 10 minutes, it's never enough," said Roglic, sitting in the Pau press room on Tuesday evening, uttering the exact same line he used when he crushed his opponent by a similar margin in San Marino in May. I'm happy with the way things are going. I'm happy with where I'm at and I'm going to do my best and take it one day at a time.

Roglic started the 36.2km test just 6 seconds behind Nairo Quintana's (Movistar) Mayo Rojo. Quintana, Alejandro Valverde, and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) knew it. The only question was how much time to leak to the Slovenians.

The race of truth ruled inexorably: at the first time check after 12 km, Roglic was already more than a minute ahead of Quintana and Lopez. Valverde was a little better, but by the end of the day, the gap between all three of them and Roglic had widened to unmanageable proportions.

Roglic took the stage win by 25 seconds over Paddy Bevin (CCC), but the gap in the overall standings was rather stark. Valverde was second, 1:52 behind. Lopez is in third place by 2:11, and Quintana is just 3 minutes behind Roglic.

"In every time trial you try to go as fast as possible," Lopez said. It was the same mission today and I'm happy with my performance."

Roglic's mission for the remainder of the Vuelta is exactly the same as it was at this point in the Giro: "In May, the combination of a depleted Jumbo-Visma team and Roglic's deteriorating health, which saw his overall lead disappear at the end of the second week, made him think lightly that it might be difficult to complete the entire route here. He thought lightly that it might be difficult.

"We'll see what happens. So far my feeling is pretty good and I haven't had any luck. I've had a few crashes already, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. I'll just try to stay healthy." I'm not that worried about it."

Indeed, he is "not that worried about it.

Indeed, had his Jumbo Visma not crashed in the opening round's team time trial, and had he not crashed in the gravel sector in the finale of Sunday's spectacular, hail-strewn race in Andorra, the Slovenian's overall lead would be much larger It would have been. Although he lost precious seconds in these accidents, the injuries seemed to have had little effect.

"I'm still functioning well. The injury I sustained in Andorra is healed on one side but open on the other. As far as my performance goes, I think I can still perform well."

After losing Laurens De Plus early in the Giro, Jumbo Visma was reluctant to cede the lead to Richard Karapas in the Alps and carry Maglia Rosa for the rest of the race. However, despite Steven Kruijswijk's abandonment, the Dutch team appears to offer stronger support in this Vuelta.

The press tent at the finish line was abuzz with excitement as Roglic took off his maillot rojo and placed it on the table before answering reporters' questions.

"We'll just see how the race goes, how it goes every day, watching the breakaways," Roglic replied when asked if he would try to take the overall lead like he did in the Giro. For us, we need to focus every day to stay in control. Still, our main goal is to get the jersey in Madrid."