Irish hits again and takes the victory from Cavendish! #video

• All about Tour of Slovenia

Polishclimber Rafal Majka, hero of the third stage with climb to Rogla, is theoverall winner of the race. This is 13th victory for non-Sloveniancyclists, Slovenia is still at 11 victories. 

Junak zadnje etape @TourOfSlovenia Sam Bennett iz @BORAhansgrohe. Drugi veliki @MarkCavendish #congratulations pic.twitter.com/pFaliA4ORG

— JakaLopatic (@Jaka_Lopatic) June 18, 2017

14:55: Just three kilometers to the finish line!

Takole se v krogih po Novem mestu kolesarji bojujejo za najboljše izhodišče pred zaključnim sprintom zadnje etape. pic.twitter.com/UmHhmW5i8Y

— Simon Kavcic (@SimonKavcic) June 18, 2017

14:54: Just 7 km to go! All teams with strong sprinters are up in the front.

14:48,12 km to the finish: End of the breakaway. Fight for the best position for the finish sprint has started.

14:45, 25km to the finish: Jaka Primožič is the only one left in the escape, but he’ll be caught soon as well. He is just 10 seconds ahead.

14:40,16 km to the finish: Slovenian cyclists Jaka Primožič (Slovenian national team) has jumped from the escaping group and now has a lead of couple of hundreds of meters.

14:35, 21km to the finish: Leaders are only 30 seconds ahead of the main group.

14:20, 28km to the finish: Leading six riders are still in the lead. They are one minute and 20 seconds ahead.

To je glavnina, ki bo kmalu pogoltnila ubežnike. pic.twitter.com/NvufQipcbP

— Simon Kavcic (@SimonKavcic) June 18, 2017

Bežali so več kot 100 km, njihovega bega pa bo kmalu konec. Za zmago v Novem mestu bodo obračunali sprinterji. pic.twitter.com/bRO25SCdhF

— Simon Kavcic (@SimonKavcic) June 18, 2017

Se stirje krogi po ulicah Novega mesta do cilja @TourOfSlovenia pic.twitter.com/dOtQiE2Kx4

— JakaLopatic (@Jaka_Lopatic) June 18, 2017

14:15, 35km to the finish: Leaders are one minute ahead, butit’ hard to believe they can make it to the finish.

14:10, 41km to the finish: Cyclists are already in Novo mesto. Lead of the escapee group is down to one minute.

14:00, 49km to the finish: Lead of the escape group has fallen down to two minutes and 20 seconds. Strong pace of the main group is dictated by teams with the strong sprinters – Orica-Scott, Bora-Hansgrohe, Dimension Data and Bahrain-Merida.

13:50, 55km to the finish: Pace in the main group is lead by teams Orica-Scott and Bahrain-Merida. The lead of the breakaway group is at three minutes, but weexpect that the main group will increase the speed and end the escape.

13:40: There are 60 kilometers to the finish of 24th edition of Tour of Slovenia. Lead of the escape group is at  3 minutes and 30 seconds.

13:35, 90km: Slovenian cyclists Jaka Primožič (Slovenian national team) is also in the breakaway group. He’s the youngest cyclists on the race, he’s just 18 years old– just like the white jersey Tadej Pogačar (Rog).

Tole lahko pomeni samo ... Bife! pic.twitter.com/UcekLGXTgS

— Simon Kavcic (@SimonKavcic) June 18, 2017

13:30, 85km: Leaders are about 3 minutes ahead. We got news about another DNF – Filippo Fortin (Ita/TirolCycling Team) has crashed on the downhill from Budna Vas and was taken to the hospital.

13:17, 78km: We’re on the halfway of the last stage, breakaway riders are still 3 minutes and 15 seconds ahead.

13:15: We have a first DNF of the day. Austrian Matthias Krizek (Tirol Cycling Team) has stepped of the bike and is already in the “broom” vehicle.

13:05, 70km: Lead of the escape group had grown a little bit. It’s now close to four minutes (3.45).

12:45: Leaders are already on the climb to Budna Vas that is on 543 meters above sea level. Climb is 5.1 kilometers long and has average incline of 6.6 percent.Organizers are warning the cyclists that they had to be careful on the certainparts of the descent, there is also some sand on the road.

Foto: Vid Ponikvar

12:40, 55km: Caravan is in the certain rhythm, and everybody seems happy with it. For now. Lead of the breakaway is at three minutes.

12:25, 50km: Lead of the escaping riders had grown to three minutes. Meanwhile we’reclosing in to the only mountains classifications finish of today – Budna Vas. Gap between the leaders and the main group could change again here.

12:20: We have a field report that quite strong winds are still disturbing the race.This has bigger influence on the escapees, and not as big on the main group.

12:20, 42km: Lead of the breakaway group has fallen under three minutes (2:25).

Foto: Vid Ponikvar

12:15, 35km: As soon as Bora-Hansgrohe– team with the green jersey – takes the lead the gap starts to melt. This happened also in the last minutes and the gap came down from to around three minutes.

12:10, 32km: Lead of the six escaping riders has grown to 3:35.

12:00: Advantage of the breakaway rideris growing. Team Bora-Hansgrohe is controlling the main group, gap to the leaders is now 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

11:55, 23km: Lead of the leading six riders is already over three minutes.

11:40, 13km: Pace of the main group is now again low, this is why the gap to the leaders is growing. It’s now at 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

11:35, 10km: Looks like we have a sucesfull breakaway! Six rider are escaped, including Daniel Felipe Martinez (Col, Wilier Triestina-SelleItalia), Davide Ballerini (Ita/Androni-Sidermec-Bottecchia), Sebastian Schönberger (At/Tirol Cycling Team), Jiri Polnicky (Cz/Elekov-AuthorCycling Team), Gianfranco Visconti (Ita/Meridiana Kamen) and Jaka Primožič (Slo/Slovenian national team).

11:30: Organizers of the race got guarantee from the Slovenian railways that today there will be no interruptions on the railroad crossings. Unlike yesterday,everything should go smoothly.

11:25: Main group is stretched, speed is high. Like usually when the potentia lbreakaway is formed.

11:25: Riders are racing in the nice temperature – 25 degrees Celsius. But the wind isquite strong, which could cause problems for the cyclists.

11:23: We’re seeing first attacks right from the start.

11:20: Race officialy started after couple of kilometers around Rogaška Slatina. Team Bora – Hansgrohe will control the race, they are defending green jersey on the shoulders of Rafal Majka.

Foto: Vid Ponikvar

11:05: 136 cyclists started the last, fourth stage of Tour of Slovenia. Japanese cyclists Kohei Uchima (Nippo-Vini Fantini) didn’t sign the start list.

Start zadnje etape na @TourOfSlovenia. Pricakujemo tradicionalni ciljni sprint v Novem mestu pic.twitter.com/ytC3wKHv4B

— JakaLopatic (@Jaka_Lopatic) June 18, 2017

11:05: Cyclists are on the road – last act of 24th Slovenian tour has begun!

Start - Rogaška Slatina

10:55: Ten minutes to go and the last stage of 24th Tour of Slovenia will begin. Three intermediate finishes are ahead of cyclists – in Šentjur, Štore and by Adria Mobil factory – and also one 3rd category climb to Budna Vas. If we don’t have any crashes of other surprises we’ll see a sprint finish.

There are still 160 kilometers left on the stage, but as far as overall standings are concerned we don’t expect any changes. Green and blue jerseys are in the hands of Polish champion Rafal Majka (Bora – Hansgrohe), winner of third stage. The only question remains who will leave home with red jersey – award for the best sprinter on the race. Tadej Pogačar (Rog – Ljubljana) will be defending white jersey.

Sprinters will surely decide who will win today. One of the main favorites is Luka Mezgec (Orica – Scott): “I’ll have to have a good position for the sprint. If I’ll have it I can win the red jersey, I’m sure of it.”

Among the main favorites are also excellent Italian rider Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain – Merida) and winner of the first stage, Irish Sam Bennett (Bora – Hansgrohe). Meanwhile Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) is still recovering after illness and is not in top form jet.