Team Katusha takes all glory, Russian Porsev celebrates in Novo mesto #video

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15:38: Cyclists are in the last lap. Peloton accelerated and is now stretched out.

15:35: Italian is caught. Peloton is back in one group, sprinters will start to prepare best possible positions for the sprint finish.

15:30: Daniele Colii (Ita/Nippo-Vini Fantini) is the only men left in the breakaway. Though Italian isn’t giving up, but he only has couple of meters ahead of chasers. Two laps till the end.

15:30: Cyclist still have to do three laps around Novo mesto. After that we’ll face wild sprint, with best sprinters fighting for the stage victory.

15:24: Leading riders Colli, Gazzara in Nikolaev – they are still 50 seconds ahead of main group – had crossed main square in Novo mesto for the first time.

15:17: Cyclists are already in Novo mesto. Escaping trio is still in the lead, but it’s only question of time now – team will attack and catch them.

15:10, 25 km till the finish: Only three cyclist are in the breakaway, Jens Wallays (Bel/Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise) also given up and is already in the main group. Leaders are now one minute and 15 seconds ahead.

Ufff, danes zna biti v ciljnem sprintu @TourOfSlovenia zanimivo,ker je podlaga spolzka, v NM pa dezuje #brezpadcev pic.twitter.com/lu1xNq2TIp

— JakaLopatic (@Jaka_Lopatic) June 19, 2016

15:00: Breakaway is coming to an end. Main chasing group is just minute and a half behind. Looks like we’ll see rainy finish.

14:50: Cyclist are getting close to Novo mesto. Advantage of leading four riders is slowly melting. They are now less than two minutes ahead.

14:41: Cyclist will get some refreshments before they enter Novo mesto. Feed zone is in Radohova vas, than we expect a sprint finish in main square in Novo mesto. Leading four riders are still more than two minutes ahead of main group.

14:35: Four breakaway riders have a nice lead, but there are quite a few kilometers till the finish of the last stage. It’s started to rain again. Main group caught Božič.

14:30: Adria Mobil’s Jon Božič has given up and is waiting for the main group. Four riders are still in the breakaway.

14:15: Escapees are already on their way towards Bogenšperk (510 m.a.s.l.), last mountain finish on 2016 Tour of Slovenia. Four riders are now in the lead, Božič is a little bit behind them. Main group is three minutes and 20 seconds behind.

13:55: Peloton is in the center of Slovenia – village Vače. Area is know as a finding place of Vače Situla. Village Slivna (mountain above has the same name), a geometric center of Slovenia (GEOSS) is also near by.

13:45: Escapees are on the way to top of second climb – 3rd category mountain finish on Slivna, while their lead continues to drop. They are now just two minutes away from the main group. Good news is that it’s not raining anymore.

13:30: Teams Katusha and Lampre-Merida are dictating the pace of the main group. Chasers are now slightly faster and gap of breakaway group has shrunk (3:00). We’re already in the second half of today’s stage.

13:15: Breakaway group extended its lead after first mountain finish. Gap is now bigger than four minutes (4:05).

13:00: Cyclists are already on the today’s first climb – Boben (529 m.a.s.l.). Leading cyclists still have a gap of more than three minutes.

12:45: Everything is still calm on today’s stage. Five riders in the lead (Gazzara, Nikolaev, Božič, Colii, Wallays) are still just under four minutes ahead of main group.

12:25: Gap of the breakaway group is constantly between 3:20 and 3:40, at one point it was even down to 3:15, but that is pretty much everything that is going on for now. Teams with great sprinters are already working on how to bring their favorites as fresh as possible to Novo mesto.

12:05: Average speed of breakaway group is 44 km/h after first 30 kilometers of today’s stage.

12:00: Gap of the breakaway group stopped growing and is now steady at 3:40.

11:50: Nobody in the breakway group represents a treath for yellow jersey. Jon Božič will be still behind Jan Tratnik in KOM competition, even if he wins all mountain finished today.

11:45: Advantage of breakaway group is still growing and is close to four minutes (3:40).

11:40: Escapees are pushing as hard as possible, which also reflects on the gap. It’s now jumped from one minute to more than three minutes (3:10).

Interesting fact: Cyclist from 21 countries race on 2016 Tour of Slovenia.

11:35: Five escaping riders managed to create a gap on one minute and ten seconds in couple of kilometers.

11:30: First successful breakaway! Five riders separated from the main group - Michele Gazzara (Ita/Norda), Jens Wallays (Bel/Topsport), Sergej Nikolajev (Rus/Rusvelo), Daniele Colii (Ita/Vini Fantini), Jon Božič (Slo/Adria Mobil).

Danes na @TourOfSlovenia bezi peterica kolesarjev. Kdo? Izveste na @SiolSPORTAL pic.twitter.com/6CXWHvYE1W

— Simon Kavcic (@SimonKavcic) June 19, 2016

11:25: Pace of main group is so strong that it doesn’t allow breakaways. However there are still many attampts.

11:20: Peloton stretched out immediately, looks like cyclist don’t want to ride too long in this kind of weather. We see many attacks, but nobody managed to escape for now. But it’s just a matter of time.

11:15: Warming up is done. Cycling train has left Rogaška Slatina and is on the way to Novo mesto.

Pa so sli v dez -zadnja etapa @TourOfSlovenia pic.twitter.com/9UeYSJ6Kte

— JakaLopatic (@Jaka_Lopatic) June 19, 2016

​11:05: Last stage of 23rd edition of Tour of Slovenia has begun. Looks like we had rainy day ahead. 131 cyclist are on the start.

Start – Rogaška Slatina!

Very top of overall standings might be decided – Estonian Rein Taaramäe (Team Katusha) will defend yellow jersey after today’s more or less flat stage – we’ll see mostly battle for stage victory today in Novo mesto. Sprinters will have main roles in that battle, but winners of all jersey are still not decided. Blue jersey of the best climber is currently in the hands of Slovenian Jan Tratnik (Amplatz – BMC). But he’s only one point ahead of Belgian Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise), five ahead of race leader Taarämae and seven ahead of Italian Iuri Filosi (Nippo - Vini Fantini).

Marko Kump won last stage of 2015 Tour of Slovenia, at the time he was in Adria Mobil jersey.

Marko Kump (Lampre-Merida) is clear favorite of Slovenian fans in the finish sprint, while his main rival could be Italian Elia Viviani (Team Sky). Superstar Mark Cavendish abandoned Tour of Slovenia after second stage. Race will start at 11:00, at around 15:00 riders will cross finish line for the first time. Then they will still have to do three laps around Novo mesto.