Primož Roglič is the hero of the climb to Trije Kralji

Primož Roglič, former ski jumper, has won the third, king mountain stage, and also took the lead in the overall standings. He will start final stage on Sunday in yellow and only a higher force can take the victory from him.

17:46, 2 km do vrha: Roglič še vedno v samostojnem pobegu grize proti vrhu. Približuje pa se mu Matija Kvasina (Hrv/Felbermayr).

17:43, 3 km till the finish : Roglič is still in the lead, he now has a bigger gap – 12 seconds.

17:40, 4 km till the finish : Primož Roglič (Slo/Adria Mobil) attacked and the group is fell apart. Only a few riders are following about ten seconds behind. Jan Polanc is not there anymore.

17:35, 7 km till the finish : Matija Kvasina (Cro/Felbermayr) jumped and split the leading group, only six riders are now up front.

17:33, 8 km till the finish : 23 cyclist are still in the leading group.

17:30, 9 km till the finish: Leading group is still together, Polanc is still on the moderate pace that everybody can follow. When will we see the first attack?

17:25, 10 km till the finish: Polanc is still leading the group of 24 riders.

17:20 Escapees are caught. Group of 25 riders will fight for the victory, Jan Polanc is for now on the head of this group. He is obviously working for his teammate Diego Ullisi. Who will have the strongest legs?

17:15 Fajt and Gavazzi are already on the finish climb of the king stage. Italian attacked right away and Adria Mobil rider was left behind.

17:05 161 km: Kristjan Fajt (Adria Mobil) caught Gavazzi on the descent. They will start the climb to Trije Kralji together. The rest of the group is not far behind.

17:05 161 km: Leader Gavazzi was caught on the descent. Everything is set for the battle on the climb to Trije Kralji (“Three Kings”).

16:45: Leader Gavazzi is five kilometers from the top of Zgornje Prebukovje and he still has the lead of 30 seconds.

16:40: Solo rider in the front increased the gap for another ten seconds, to total of 50 seconds ahead of the main group. Riders are back on the narrow roads of the Ritoznoj vineyards and are climbing back to Prebukovje.

16:35, 145 km: Gavazzi from Italy is in the lead, and he already has a 40 seconds gap ahead of the chasing group of 40 riders. Cyclists are climbing to Zgornje Prebukovje for the second time.

16:32: We still don’t know who was second and third on the last mountain finish, their race numbers were not seen – competitors were wearing their rain jackets. We already have a warning saying that all of them will have to undress their rain jackets before the finish, so that the organizers will see who will take the stage.

16:28, 139 km: Italian Francesco Gavazzi (SouthEast) jumped from the leading group of 40 riders and quickly created a 20 seconds gap.

16:23: We have great news from the field! The rain is stopped and it looks like we will have the grand finale of the today’s king stage without precipitation.

16:10, 127 km: Escapees had been caught on the descent, meaning that the big group is leading the way towards the second mountain finish; yellow jersey is still in there.

16:00: Riders are climbing on Veliko Tinje, after that they will go to Zgornje Prebukovje once more.

15:55: Descent to Slovenska Bistrica was pretty scary in this conditions, and technically very challenging for the riders.

Prizor s cilja na Treh kraljih.Za kolesarje na dirki #PoSloveniji nic kaj lep podatek pic.twitter.com/w17hf5f8RP

— JakaLopatic (@Jaka_Lopatic) June 20, 2015

15:55: Descent to Slovenska Bistrica was pretty scary in this conditions, and technically very challenging for the riders.

15:40: Legendary race reporter Janko Horvat said that the Tour of Slovenia never before went on such a narrow road. And he should know, he has been on every single tour so far.

15:35: Leading five riders are already climbing to Zgorje Prebukovje for the first time, they are now about two minutes ahead of the chasing group with about 80 riders. There are three more kilometers till the first mountain finish.

15:30, 106 km: Main group had almost caught up with the breakaway group. Peloton is now in several small groups. Situation out there on the race is quite chaotic.

15:25: We are winding in between the vineyards, along the narrow and slippery road, with a pretty steep climb on the left side. Commissars warn all riders that they should be careful.

15:16: Leading five riders are in the feed zone, they are now 3 minutes and eight seconds ahead of the main group.

15:00: Cyclist are taking additional clothes and rain jackets out of the following vehicles, the conditions on the road became harsh and absolutely unpleasant. Five escapees are in 95th kilometer, but their gap is now only 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

14:55: We have a field report that the rain is already falling on riders. Meanwhile nothing new from the finish line – heavy rain and 9 degrees Celsius.

14:45, 82 km: Leading five riders are 4 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of other 120 cyclist.

14:44: Sky is even darker, some riders are already asking their teams for rain jackets. In the second hour of the race the speed went down to 42 km/h.

14:40: So far there were no big complications on the today’s stage. We only had couple of punctures, the first already happened in Dobrovnik on the closed ride behind the car; a rider from team Radenska had a puncture there. There were also no crashed, let’s keep it this way.

14:35: Riders are in the dry for now, conditions are almost perfect for cycling. The weather info from Trije Kralji is not as nice unfortunately. It’s raining for the whole day there. Breakaway group is now back on stronger pace, after 76 kilometers thay again have a four minutes gap.

14:30, 70 km: Gap between the leading five riders and the main group is now at 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

Climbs on the 3rd stage: Cyclist will first climb to Zgornje Prebukovje, II. Category climb with the altitude of 777 meters, average incline of 4.9% and steepest section with the incline of 18%.

Descent will lead the riders to Slovenska Bistrica, then they will go back in the mountains. This time on 660 meters high Visoko Tinje – the average incline of this road is 5.8%, while the steepest part is at 12%. After that the cyclist will go down to Slovenska Bistrica for the second time around and then back up to Zgornje Prebukovje. After jet another descent to Slovenska Bistrica, the main climb of the day begins – the finish climb to Trije Kralji. Poslano ob 14:27 dne sobota

14:16: Med 99 in 102 kilometrom bodo imela moštva možnost, da svojim kolesarjem v t.i. bifeju predajo okrepčila, nato bo etapa pokazala zobe.

14:14: Team Rusvelo, the team with the yellow jersey, is still in the front row in the main group.

14:12: There are many requests on the radio – for all kind of assistance to the riders. Mostly small things or bike repairs. Now it’s time to prepare for the second, much harder part of the stage. Cyclist also went through storm, but now the sky is getting darker and darker.

14:10, 60 km: Race is getting close to Ptuj. For now the main group shows no interest in the escapees, the gap it still at the save four minutes.

13:55, 47 km: First rain drops fell on riders, meanwhile the breakaway group is neither gaining, neither loosing the advantage – they are still 4 minutes and 20 seconds ahead.

13:50: Average speed after first hour of racing is approximately 45 km/h.

13:30, 40 km: Escapees ride steady at the gap of four minutes. Looks like the racing will calm down for a while, at least till the distance of 111,6 kilometers and first mountain finish and first KoM points of the day. Riders from teams Rusvelo and Bardiani are leading the main group.

13:30, 33 km: Breakaway group is not stopping and is only gaining advantage. The gap is now over four minutes (4:20).

13:25, 30 km:: Pace of the main group is down, meaning that the escapees are creating a bigger lead. They are now over three minutes ahead.

13:20, 25 km: Escapees already have a nice lead, they are now a minute and 30 seconds ahead of the main group. Some of the riders tried to join the escape, but the peloton didn’t allow them.

13:15: Five escaping riders are about 25 seconds ahead of main group.

13:10: Group is already in Murska Sobota, location of the second intermediate sprint.

13:08: Five riders in the lead: Klemen Štimulak (Slo/Adria Mobil), Otto Vergaerde (Bel/Topsport), Maksim Belkov (Rus/Katusha), Marco Canola (Ita/UnitedHealthcare) and Stiven Ramirez Chacon (Col/Colombia).

13:05, 15 km: Three more riders joined the leading trio from Beltinci, but it is hard to say if this is an escape or not, they are only 100 meters ahead of the peloton.

13:00: About 500 meters before Beltinci and the first intermediate sprint, three riders jumped from the group and split first points of the day. First in Beltinci was Adria Mobil’s Klemen Štimulak.

12:55: In the first part of the stage, the points will be awarded to the winners of three intermediate sprints in Beltinci, Murska Sobota and Radenci. Second part that follows 100th kilometer is completely mountainous, with finish on Trije Kralji.

12:50: Attacks follow one by one, but the peloton is still in one piece.

12:47: We already see first attempts of the breakaway, so the peloton is already stretched out. It is only a question of time when will the right group of cyclist appear at the front and escape.

12:45: After a short closed ride, the race started for real. 125 riders started the kings stage, three of them left the race on Friday.

12:35: However, the weather situation is quite the opposite on the finish, on Trije Kralji. It’s raining up there and it’s also cold, but the fight for the victory will be hot nevertheless.

12:30: Close ride across Dobrovnik has begun, compared to Friday we have a perfect weather, almost ideal for cycling.

Interesting: Janez Brajkovič is the only cyclist that won Tour of Slovenia, but wasn’t wearing yellow jersey for a single day. He took it after last stage.

12:10: Jure Golčer, one of the Slovenian favorites for the overall victory, was careful before the kings stage. He could ride up to Trije Kralji with his eyes closed, but he knows the stage ahead of him is very hard: “Our team is very young compared to others, and we have to account for that. I don’t have any pressure on me in regards to the yellow jersey.”

Cyclist will start this 178,5 kilometer long journey at 12:30, with all the best climbers in the front rows. Peloton will have to face four climbs – one third category, two second and final first category climb.

Today things will get serious after 100 kilometers of “warming up”. Competitors will first head on Zgornje Prebukovje, on up to 18-degrees climb. Climb to Veliko Tinje with maximum incline of 12 degrees will follow shortly. Before they head toward the great battle on Trije Kralji, riders will once more cross Zgornje Prebukovje.

Stage will finish on Trije Kralji, after 17 kilometers of climbing with average incline of 5.6 percent.

Favorites?

Italian Diego Ulissi, already a Tour of Slovenia winner in 2011, is in great position. He is only two seconds behind Ovechkin. Jure Golčer that won the Slovenian tour twice, is also in great position, he shows great form and knows the final climb very well.

Next in line is Jan Polanc (Lampre-Merida) – he is 12 seconds behind and he will fight till the end. Climber Primož Roglič will also look for his chances. This ex ski jumper is hoping for a big result on this Tour. Slovenian fans also have high hopes for Jani Brajkovič, he is 23 seconds behind the leader.

We shouldn't forget Mikel Nieve, Spanish rider in the jersey of the richest team out there, Team Sky. He was 18 seconds behind on the time trial, but he is one of the main contenders for the yellow jersey today.