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First stage of the 29th Tour of Slovenia was full of drama, with surprising break in the very last part of the race and final success of the “big” teams. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla) went head-to-head on the end, Dylan won with great help of his teammate Luka Mezgec.
First relaxed kilometers on the streets of Celje were just a calm before the storm, the storm being number of attacks right after kilometer zero. Strong breakaway of four riders was formed early on, also thanks to Slovenians Boštjan Murn (Adria Mobil) and Teo Pečnik (Cycling club Kranj). Murn was in the break the longest, but the real threat to the favorites happened in the last kilometers when three riders created a surprisingly strong break. They were caught just hundreds of meters before the finish line and sprinters took over the control, with Bahrain Victorious and Team Jayco AlUla leading the charge. This was no surprise as they have the strongest sprinters on the race. Luka Mezgec did a perfect lead out for Groenewegen, while Matej Mohorič was pulling for Bauhaus. Dylan came out victorious, with Phil just behind him in second. This was 3rd victory in Rogaška Slatina for Groenewegen, he was already victorious here in 2018 and 2022.
“It was not easy, riders did a good break. Then BORA and Tudor went for an attack on the climb, not making it easy for a sprinter like me. There are a lot of really steep, but short climbs here. Team was catching the break and bringing me back in the position. On the end we used the whole team to bring me back in position. We didn’t get a lot of help from other teams, I don’t know why, but that’s OK as we got the victory. Luka Mezgec did an amazing lead out, he’s really motivated. He was on a training camp and is in perfect shape. Today he did a perfect job, this was textbook lead out. It was easy to catch victory after that.” – Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla)
Dylan also took the overall lead and will wear green tomorrow, he’s also leading the points classification. Raul Garcia Pierna (Equipo Kern Pharma) will wear white jersey of the best young rider on the race, with Andrea Garosio (EOLO-Kometa) taking over the blue jersey for the KOM competition.
Second stage from Žalec to Ormož will be 163,7 kilometers long, with challenging climb just before the finish. |
