In the time trial of stage 10 of the Vuelta a España in Pau, France, Patrick Bevin rode hot for over 90 minutes in his quest for his and the CCC team's first Grand Tour stage win. However, his hopes were dashed when Primo Roglic placed second last with a time 25 seconds faster than Bevin.

It was a familiar scenario for Bevin, who lost to Roglic in last year's Ituria-Basque time trial, and for Roglic, who was coming off his fourth Grand Tour time trial victory.

"It's disappointing, but Primosch has been a TT rider all year and you have to be really good to win here. 'Second place is second place; second place is second place. I've been in the hot seat here before and he was in the lead. But that's motorcycle racing.

Bevin led the stage by two seconds over Remi Cabagna (Detunink-Quickstep). Until Roglic.

"I needed power all day. That said, it was quite difficult to start with a 2.5 km climb. There was nowhere to hide or recover [it was a super hard course. But Primosch is not a pure climber, and in the time trial he was the best of the year," Bevin said.

"I'm pretty disappointed with second place. But now that this stage is over, the second half of the race is open. I have worked hard in this first stage to build my form and get my race legs back.

Bevin could take some solace in the fact that he made it to the time trial and finished well after being the first rider in the Tour de France to be forced to abandon the race due to broken ribs from a crash on stage 4.

"It's been a rough season for me and I've had to rebuild backwards with an eye on the World Championships. But I'm always looking for a little more upside.