Race leader Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took a second bunch sprint victory in three days at the Tour of Slovenia, narrowly outpowering Stefano Oldani (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) in the final metres.
After hard work by the German WorldTour squad on the rolling terrain between Maribor and Celje, Pithie's teammate Mattia Cattaneo opted to try and surprise the opposition with a sneak attack early in the final kilometre.
Cattaneo's bold move stretched the rivals squads even further, forcing Caja Rural's leadout man, Joel Nicolau, to work hard to pull him back.
With the Italian reeled in, Nicolau's teammate Oldani accelerated hard on the right hand side of the road, but Pithie was waiting in the wings to charge past almost at the last possible moment and clinch the win.
On the hilliest stage so far in this year's race, Paul Wright (Modern Adventure) and Erik Fetter (United Shipping) got the ball rolling for the breakaway 120 kilometres away from home, then were joined by Marcel Gladek (Factor), as they approached the first of two category 2 climbs, the Planina na Pohorju (7.9 km à 6.4%).
The three escapees were still together as they reached the second climb, the eight-kilometre Celjska koča, in the final hour of racing, although Wright quickly dropped his two companions at the foot of the climb.
What he could not change, however, was how Red Bull were still bossing the front of the peloton, and the margin for the stage leader was down to just 20 seconds as the 28-year-old former New Zealand National champion began grinding up the lower slopes of the densely wooded climb.
Barely half the climb had unfolded before Wright was reeled in, and Red Bull, spearheaded by Mattia Cattaneo, continued to keep a high pace all the way to the top but - crucially - without losing their sprinter Pithie.
On the descent and then heading towards the finish, Unai Iribar (Kern Pharma) tried a brave solo move, but his brief attempt never was going to escape Red Bull when they were working so hard for their sprinter.
With six riders on the front of broad, well-surfaced and very straight city roads, the German squad continued to dominate up the rolling finale into Celje. Only 40 riders remained in the front group by that point. But with such a strong presence, there was nothing to stop Red Bull teammates Ben Zwiehoff and Jan Tratnik from hammering out an impressive pace to ensure the group remained together right through to the completely flat finishing straight.
Sensing he could perhaps surprise the opposition given they had the strongest sprinter in the race, Mattia Cattaneo then went for a long move. His audacious challenge failed to work out, but with Pithie as a very effective main plan and clinching the triumph, it barely mattered.
After three days sprinting, Saturday's stage is the key one of the week for the GC contenders. It's both the longest of the race and features this edition's sole HC ascent, the 12.7km Vršič, peaking out just 14 kilometres from the finish. But for Pithie and Red Bull, in any case, they have already made the 2026 Tour of Slovenia a runaway success story.
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