Asked at a rest day press conference about tensions with former team leader Vincenzo Nibali in this Giro d'Italia, Jacob Fuglsang suggested that they were fabricated by "the press and journalists." Perhaps it was another Jacob Fuglsang who had been writing a column about Nibali and Giro in the Danish tabloid BT over the past few days.

Incidentally, BT's Fuglsang noted that Nibali "could hardly say hello and was chasing us pretty hard," and that he did not know whether the Sicilian was "jealous, ambitious, or what."

Two days later, BT's Fuglsang noted that when Nibali got a flat tire on stage 8, "he was just as well off. He complained that the Trek-Segafredo team had pushed the pace and said, "I told [Nibali] he had better be careful the next time he stops to take a leak."

Before stage 9, and again at Monday's press conference, Nibali made a similar statement denying any tension with his former teammate, and Astana's Fuglsang (currently in sixth place overall, just four seconds behind Nibali) made a similar remark shortly thereafter.

"I think the 'war' between me and Vincenzo is mainly created by the press and journalists," Astana's Fuglsang claimed on Monday. They want to create extra drama in the Giro."

"Me and Vincenzo talked a bit about it yesterday. We exchanged a few messages the day before. We want to have a good race and we are not going to focus only on each other," Fuglsang added.

"We talked about it. I think the situation is clear and let's move on from here and see how the race goes. I don't think any of us have the strongest team, so we will probably be alone in the high mountains and we may end up making alliances instead of war."

Of course, Fuglsang is right in a way. The press always welcomes the addition of drama to a bicycle race, and the rumblings of discontent between two competitors inevitably generate a great deal of interest. In any Giro, the Polemica Index is an important consideration.

In a Giro where the press room has to make do with a physically remote (or simply non-existent) mixed zone, the kind of insight that Fuglsang's column provides is notably lacking. Perhaps he shouldn't be shy about claiming credit for his sideline work at BT, where he has been a member of the press for more than a decade, and where he has been a member of the press for more than a decade.

By the time the Giro resumes on Tuesday, Fuglsang is in sixth place overall, 1:01 behind Maria Rosa's Joao Almeida (Detunink-Quick Step) and four seconds behind Nibali. He lost teammates Miguel Angel Lopez and Alexandre Vlasov to illness and injury, and was hit by bad winds in the first stage time trial.

"Apart from the time trial, it was a good week. With the exception of Wilco Kelderman, I was able to put some time back on the other GC riders." I wish Vlasov and Lopez were here. ...... I can't complain because everyone worked so hard."

Fuglsang has spent much of his Grand Tour career working for others, helping Nibali win the 2014 Tour de France and the 2016 Giro, but in recent years he has had bad luck in the three-week race. Despite his track record, however, the Dane enters this year's Giro with high ambitions, and those ambitions have not waned over the opening nine days of the race. He rode impressively on stage 3 on Mt. Etna, and he and Kelderman had one of the best runs of the GC men in Sunday's Roccaraso.

"I don't think our chances of winning the Giro have diminished," Fuglsang said. "But there is still tough competition. Kelderman in particular is very strong, maybe even stronger than we think. It's still early in the race, but in my eyes he is one of the favorites to win. "

While the Giro won't cross 1,000 meters again until next Sunday's summit finish in Piancavallo, there are plenty of pitfall possibilities in the second week of racing, starting with the steep Murri that awaits on Tuesday's finale, the Lido di Tortoreto. in August. Fuglsang, the winner of Il Lombardia in August, will surely take his chances there or on the Nove Colli Gran Fondo route around Cesenatico two days later.

"I think Tuesday will be a good chance, but there are still 10 kilometers from the last climb to the finish and it depends a bit on the weather. Yesterday's final had a strong headwind, so it was difficult to make a difference," Fuglsang said.

"There is also the Cesenatico stage. There are always chances. You just have to choose when to expend your energy."