In the great controversy that erupted on stage 19 of the Vuelta a España, Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma) chose diplomatic neutrality.

The unwritten rule states that if the leader crashes, his rivals will not attack unless the race is already "on." In this case, however, Movistar insisted that it was sticking to its original game plan for the stage, which was to try to form a group immediately afterward, regardless of what was happening at the back.

Roglic and most of Jumbo-Visma fell off the bike when the road narrowed in the town of Escalona, Tony Martín abandoned, and Roglic took some time to escape the pile-up. Add to that a bike change, and by the time the chase finally began, he was a minute behind Movistar.

Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez (4th overall) was also involved in the crash, and afterwards was scathingly critical of Movistar, and when Primos Rogerci was asked if he had considered never returning to the Vuelta again after his third week of hardship, a ping pong in the race press room was so loud that it rang.

But instead of lashing out like his Colombian rival, Roglic replied in his usual mild-mannered manner.

"I believe tomorrow will be one day closer," he said. But after all, good memories are the ones we remember."

Asked by a Spanish TV station what happened, Roglic replied: "When I crashed, I hit the wall more than anything. I'm still here.

"I don't know much about Movistar. I'll watch the replay later and then I can really comment. At the time I was more interested in getting a new bike"

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Following an inquiry about how he started racing with Jumbo-Visma in 2015, the third of three questions that Roglic willingly received from the written media was another attempt to get him to talk about the Movistar operation. But he got almost the same answer.

"My opinion is that I don't know what happened. I was way behind and had to change bikes. I want to watch the replay first and then comment."

In any case, if Roglic has other things on his mind and chooses "no comment" when the journalists come back with their questions, that would be understandable given that the race leader has the final barrier of the Vuelta a España coming up on Saturday. Given that, it would be understandable.

The final stage from Arenas de San Pedro to Plataforma de Gredos is a serious mountain stage with an elevation gain of over 4,430 meters. The highest peak approaches 2,000 meters above sea level, and the stage concludes with eight summit finishes.

After that, if the riders make it through unscathed, they will be 24 hours away from a complete victory in Madrid.