News

The Tour of Slovenia starts next Wednesday and, as was the case last year, the big absentee is once again Tadej Pogačar (1200). In 2021 and 2022, the Slovenian star was the dominant force in his country's race, where he chose to compete as preparation for the Tour de France. This time, after the intensity and toughness of the Giro d'Italia, Pogačar is not going to participate in any race before the Tour, so his Slovenian fans will have to wait another year to see him compete at home again.

Route

As in recent editions, the Tour of Slovenia consists of five stages with varied profiles that offer opportunities to different types of cyclists. The first stage is the flattest and the best opportunity for sprinters. The second stage can also end in a sprint, although it accumulates more than 2400 meters of climbing and will be quite a challenge for the sprinters to reach the finish line with the peloton. The third and fifth stages feature hilly profiles with climbs near the finish and are ideal for puncheurs and classic specialists, while the fourth day is time for the queen stage ending in Krvavec (11.7 km at 7.7%), which will decide the overall classification winner.

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Pello Bilbao (1000), Matej Mohorič (600), Filippo Zana (200), Michael Storer (400), Tobias Johannessen (600), Hugh John Carthy (400), Diego Ulissi (400), Alessandro Covi (200), Jefferson Cepeda (200), Odd Christian Eiking (200), Mathieu Burgaudeau (400), Edoardo Zambanini (200), and Pierre Latour (400) are some of the men who could compete for the GC.

For the flatter stages, Dylan Groenewegen (800), Phil Bauhaus (600), Alexander Kristoff (600), Sam Welsford (400), Elia Viviani (400), Paul Penhoet (400), Luka Mezgec (200), and Jon Aberasturi (200) are some of the fastest men on the starting list.

Photo: © Tour of Slovenia / Sportida