Here we go, the decisive day of the 2019 Tour de Slovenie has come! Today's profile is fairly, especially in the first half, where we will see three classified hills after 57.8km, 73.4km and 81.4km. After the intermediate sprint (114.3km), we'll have the final classified hill of this tour after 120.2km, launching the finale. All KoM's are in category 4, i.e. 5 - 3 - 1 points are on offer - Hermans will probably have to fight hard for his jersey!
We do expect a hard fight as well for the GC, where Sepulveda is in a great position. Of the top puncheurs, only Izagirre is within reach if we see a "normal" stage - riders like Kelderman, Gautier or Waeytens will need to do something really special to still have a shot at the top positions. Trofimov is probably too close to succeed a long range attack, but too far to be a real threat. But at least, we do have some riders who absolutely need to attack - so we're hoping for a great race!
The bookies named the expected favorites: Kelderman, Izagirre and Gautier seem to be the safest bets today, followed by Dowsett, Bilbao and Gebrezgabihier. Surprisingly, Waeytens and Flügel get only one star, just as Trofimov and Pichon. Only the race will give us the answers we're looking for, so let's jump into the action!
And if we say "action", we actually mean it, as the race starts with an uphill section having a maximum slope of almost 10%. Hermans immediately shows he's unwilling to give away his KoM jersey without a good fight.
But he won't stay solo for a long time, as Bovenhuis, Shushemoin, Bilbao and Ben Nasser are on his heels! Some great puncheurs in this group - will the peloton let them go?
Well, at least not immediately, as Sauber and Campari don't seem to agree on the race situation and are chasing hard with Ahmad Zamri and Matsumoto. But finally, after the second small hill, they surrender and the gap soon goes up to 3 minutes.
Ben Nasser, the only breakaway rider besides Hermans already having some KoM points, then wins the sprint on the first classified hill, while the Belgian doesn't get any points:
1. Ben Nasser - 5
2. Shushemoin - 3
3. Bilbao - 1
Ben Nasser takes the lead in the virtual KoM standings, 2 points ahead of Hermans.
The peloton, where Iberia, Duolingo, Valio and Rakuten were sharing the work until now, was 3 minutes back at the start of the climb - but just 1'39 when reaching the top! It's mainly Vilela for Berg setting a horrendous pace on this climb!
But let's actually look again at the BotD: Ben Nasser and Bilbao are definitely great puncheurs, the latter even being named among the stage favorites. Hermans and Shushemoin are decent hilly riders, too, whereas Bovenhuis will likely struggle when the others go full gas. In terms of GC, Hermans is the most "dangerous" rider, with 6'12 back. His main goal should be defending the KoM jersey.
A goal that is getting even harder to achieve, as Ben Nasser wins the second KoM sprint as well:
1. Ben Nasser - 5
2. Shushemoin - 3
3. Hermans - 1
Ben Nasser is now leading by 6 points, and he could already secure the jersey on the next hill if Hermans doesn't get more points than him.
Vilela again powered up that second KoM hill, doing some serious damage in the peloton! Only 27 riders currently remain in the peloton, containing most stage favorites - but missing riders like Barbio (GC 8th), Rolland (GC 5th) or even Cornu (GC 3rd)! Dowsett, Gougeard, Barrio, Gebrezgabihier and Flügel are back there as well, already 2 minutes behind the "peloton"!
The situation:
Ben Nasser, Shushemoin, Hermans, Bilbao, Bovenhuis
The breakaway is falling into pieces on this third categorized hill. Bovenhuis is the first to lose contact, followed by Hermans and - surprisingly - Bilbao. Only Ben Nasser and Shushemoin remain up front.
Zordan attacks from the peloton on the final kilometer of the hill, but is unable to catch the leading duo before the KoM line:
1. Shushemoin - 5
2. Ben Nasser - 3
3. Zordan - 1
Meaning Ben Nasser has definitely secured the KoM jersey!
The peloton is just 33" back, though, and will probably soon reel in the remaining escapees. Bovenhuis and Hermans have already been dropped from the peloton, while Bilbao just manages to keep up.
With the most difficult part done now, let's see how many of the left behind riders will be able to catch up again - they have about 30km before the next hill.
Bilbao seems to have recovered well, as he attacks again and catches up with Ben Nasser and Shushemoin. Bratashcuk benefits from the Spaniard's slipstream and completes the new leading quartet. The peloton is just 40" back, though.
And these 4 leaders reach the intermediate sprint ahead of the bunch. Even though they don't sprint, they still get some points:
1. Bratashcuk - 6
2. Bilbao - 4
3. Shushemoin - 2
The peloton now is 1'07 back, with U25 leader Fernandes leading them across the line. It has grown to 76 riders, missing the following notable riders:
Rolland and Barbio have made it back to the peloton for now.
Bilbao wins the last KoM sprint of this tour, with no notable consequences on the final result:
1. Bilbao - 5
2. Bratashcuk - 3
3. Shushemoin - 1
The peloton is 40" back, and even though we can spot Gautier in the first positions, there's no attack yet. Just one more possibility before the uphill finale.
20km to go, and only Shushemoin and Bratashcuk remain some seconds ahead of the peloton. Before we enter the penultimate climb, let's again have a look at the race situation:
Disappointingly, not much happened on that penultimate climb - except for the last breakaway riders being caught and Waeytens losing contact! He's now in the second group, a few seconds behind the peloton as we're heading into the 5km uphill finale!
V. Rodrigues and Feng are leading the peloton, ahead of Gaudu who's back in the front group and could have a good shot at the U25 standings, given that the white jersey is in the second group as well!
3 kilometers to go, and now we can see Trofimov at the front. Feng and Zakarin are protecting Sepulveda, who now is highly unlikely to lose his jersey - thanks to the very passive riding of his opponents. Gautier has been sitting at the front for quite some kilometers now, without even trying an attack. Izagirre is even further back.
We have 2km remaining, and ISA - Hexacta is even leading out the sprint for Sepulveda now! Can he enrich his probable GC victory with a stage win?
Trofimov, Moscon and Gaudu follow behind, with Gautier, Serry, Costa, Koren, Izagirre and Kelderman still in good positions as well.
Red kite, and Sepulveda now is on his own as everyone else! Let's have a look at the situation as we go on the final 1000 meters:
Trofimov
Sepulveda
Costa
Izagirre
Serry
Koren
Moscon
Chiarello
Shikai
Gautier
Gaudu
Kelderman
Figueiredo
Feng
Nepomnyachsniy
Zordan
Senni
Domagalski
Gallopin
Gonzalez Cortes
Palini
Pichon
Zakarin
Le Gac
Liphongyu
Bartl
Then we have a gap to a group with Houle and Waeytens.
500 meters remaining, as Trofimov and Izagirre are about on the same line, followed by Sepulveda, Costa, Koren, Gautier, Chiarello, Kelderman and Serry. Shikai, Figueiredo, Moscon, Senni, Zordan and Nepomnyachsniy are the only other riders remaining in this first group!
Just 300m to go, and now Izagirre has clearly taken the lead! Kelderman has made up a lot of ground, though, and is now about level with Trofimov, just ahead of Sepulveda, Koren and Chiarello. Costa is still in striking distance, whereas Shikai, Gautier, Senni, Zordan and Serry don't seem to have the legs to win today!
We're on the final 200 meters, as Izagirre is clearly fading and was already passed by Chiarello and new leader Kelderman! Trofimov, Sepulveda and Koren on the next positions, ahead of Senni, Costa and Shikai.
100 meters to go, and now Chiarello has overtaken Kelderman! Senni with a great speed is closing in quickly, and is about to pass Izagirre for the stage podium! Can it be more?
Trofimov, Koren, Sepulveda, Shikai and Costa seem to be out of contention for the top spots, whereas Gautier is nowhere to be seen!
What a great victory for William Chiarello! The Brazilian upsets the stage favorites and even has the time to celebrate on the line!
Philips and Lierse get 2nd and 3rd, as on stage 2 - this time Wilco Kelderman gets the better end, ahead of Manuel Senni. Ion Izagirre, who didn't seriously try to dethrone the leader today, gets only 4th.
Yuri Trofimov does much better than on stage 2, where he lost plenty of time, and gets a 5th place today. Kristjan Koren then edges out overall winner Eduardo Sepulveda and Chen Shikai, whereas Rui Costa clearly faded in the end and only gets 9th. Andrea Zordan completes today's Top 10. All of them get the same time as the winner.
The following riders come in next:
11. Gallopin s.t.
12. Gonzalez Cortes s.t.
13. Nepomnyachsniy s.t.
14. Le Gac s.t.
15. Gautier s.t. - not even the best of his team, he won't be happy...
16. Serry s.t.
17. Figueiredo s.t.
18. Moscon s.t. - best U25 rider today, but too far back to win the jersey
19. Domagalski + 45"
20. Feng + 1'07
And what about some other stage favorites?
21. Pichon + 1'07
29. Waeytens + 1'21
83. Bilbao + 5'01
91. Flügel + 7'23
99. Gebrezgabihier + 7'23
103. Dowsett + 7'23
Whereas Bilbao's performance can be explained with his breakaway efforts, it's harder to find a reason for the other riders. Bad flat stat? Bad mountain stat? Bad recovery? Just bad daily form?
All we know is that we have some winners today - and so let's head over to the victory ceremony!
Before we do the maths for the GC and other standings, let's celebrate today's winner, William Chiarello! Berg Cycles missed out on the stage win on the opening stage by two tiny seconds - here comes their revenge!
Eduardo Sepulveda never got into trouble today and defends his leader jersey quite easily! Congrats on a great win for him and his team ISA - Hexacta!
Chen Shikai's second place wasn't attacked either, and so Ion Izagirre has to settle for third - as Cornu lost plenty of time today. Nepomnyachsniy is Valio's best rider, which doesn't come unexpected due to the long ITT. Duolingo then is the only team with two riders in the Top 10 with Figueiredo and Trofimov.
The final points standings then is great news for Wilco Kelderman! With his two podium finishes, he edges out Ion Izagirre by two and Cyril Gautier by four points. Even though this result may be somewhat lucky due to the Frenchman's weakness today, it is certainly deserved.
We then have a rather clear result for the KoM jersey, as already noted during the stage. Hassen Ben Nasser wins this standing with his great performance today. Alexandre Shushemoin and dethroned KoM leader Ben Hermans complete the podium.
ISA - Hexacta complete their great result with the win in the team standings! Valio and Duolingo were slightly stronger today, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Colombian squad!
And finally, the tightest decision! Moscon was today's strongest U25 rider, but with 1'04 back, he only takes P6! And the winner is... Benoit Cosnefroy! He edges out Fernandes and J. Rodrigues by 3" and 4", with Gaudu finally losing 13" and Dulanjana 20". If only the GC had been so tense...
Tour de Slovenie 
