Rogina wins queen stage, Polanc outstandingly second

Radoslav Rogina was really happy after his victory: “Everything came together, just as we thought. I am really happy. I took the third place three times, but now I finally did it!”

16.09: Do vrha le še kilometer. Rogina ima pred zasledovalcema (Sinkewitz in Polanc) 34 sekund prednosti in je na poti k zmagi.

16.04: Rogina is 30 seconds ahead of the chasers 2 km before the finish line. You can see that he is suffering, but the stubborn Croatian won't give in. Behind him are Sinkewitz, Valjavec and young Polanc.

16.01: Rogina is still in the lead, right behind him is Sinkewitz, Tadej Valjavec is some distance behind the German.

16.00: Only 4 km to the top. Sinkewitz and Valjavec are chasing Rogina, who is still a few seconds ahead of them.

15:57: The Croatian in the Adria Mobil uniform is 15 seconds in front of Sinkewitz. They are followed by Polanc, Valjavec and Pagani (Italy).

15.54: Rogina sped up and is some ten metres in front of the German. Five kilometres to the finish line!

15.50: Patrik Sinkewitz (Meridiana-Kamen) and Radoslav Rogina (Adria Mobil) took the lead six kilometres before the end of the queen stage. Close behind them are Jan Polanc (Radenska), Tadej Valjavec (Sava Kranj) and Darwin Atapuma (Colombia). Rabottini fell behind completely.

15.44: The Meridiana team dictates a fast tempo in the peloton, which is causing several riders to fall behind. The breakaway riders are 55 seconds ahead of the peloton.

15.39: Sergej Renev (Continental Team Astana) caught up with the Italian breakaway driver. They are 40 seconds ahead of the peloton and have 10 kilometres to the finish line.

15.36: The most riders in the peloton (six) are members of Adria Mobil. The other Slovenian teams Radenska and Sava have three riders in the peloton. Jure Golčer (Tirol) is also in the peloton, as is Fabio Felline with the yellow jersey. He is second to last in the peloton, which must mean that he is exhausted.

15.36: All the favourites for the overall classification are still in the peloton!

15.30: As said before, Rabottini remains the sole breakaway rider, the peloton caught up with the other six riders. The Italian finished fifth in Tour of Slovenia overall classification last year. Approximately 30 riders are still in the peloton, Felline with the yellow jersey is among them.

15.25: Rabottini is the sole breakaway rider now; the peloton caught up with the other six riders and now they are all chasing the Italian. He is 45 seconds ahead of the peloton.

15.21, 150 km: Rabottini is not giving up, he is more than 35 seconds in front of the other six breakaway riders, the peloton is more than a minute behind him.

15.10: Rabottini (Italy) is alone in the front and is 15 seconds in front of the six chasers. The Radenska team is leading the peloton and dictating a fast tempo. The riders are already near the Trenta Valley, which means that today's spectacle will begin soon.

15.08: Fajt and Rabottini jumped right after the intermediate sprint in Bovec. They are 5 seconds ahead of the other five breakaway riders, the peloton is 45 seconds behind them.

15.03: The Adria team is in the front of the peloton, the breakaways got even further away. They are 1 min 20 s in front of the peloton.

15.00: Primož Roglič (Adria Mobil) and Daliver Ospina (Colombia) are on the 1st place in the Mountains classification before the last mountain finish (Vršič) in today's stage. Because they both have 12 points, probably none of them will be wearing the dark blue jersey. It will be worn by the stage winner, because he will receive 12 points and will take a higher place in overall race standings. The scenario can only be different if one of them finishes in the first quintet and wins new points. One of them will definitely be wearing a jersey tomorrow, because the stage winner will probably be wearing the yellow jersey.

14.50: We received reports that some inpatient and careless drivers got on the closed track again. The warnings by the police and the event organizer are obviously not enough.

14.45: The breakaways are still successfully running away from the peloton, they are now 1 min 5 s ahead.

14.40, 123 km: The breakaways are still 50 seconds in front of the peloton. The riders just passed the 123 km mark of the queen stage.

14.30: The leading seven riders are only 47 seconds ahead of the chasers.

14.25: Fajt and Rabotti caught up with the leading five riders. The breakaway group now consists of 7 riders and is still one minute ahead of the peloton.

14.23: The Columbia team is now in the front of the peloton. The team with the yellow jersey is about a minute behind the breakaway riders.

14.21: The peloton was decimated after a demanding descent; Kristjan Fajt (Adria Mobil) and Matteo Rabottini (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) broke away, they are 50 seconds behind the leading five riders.

14.15: A new group of breakaway riders was formed after the descent. Roglič and Pirazzi were joined by Andrea Pasqualon,Wesley Sulzberger (Orica-Green Edge) and Sander Armee (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise). The leading five riders are 1 min 50 s in front of the peloton.

14.08: While the last riders made it to Livške Ravne, Roglič and Pirazzi descended wildly with the speed of 80km/h.

14.05: The riders have only 80 kilometres to the finish line. Roglič was 2 minutes behind Felline in the overall classification.

14.00: Primož Roglič, a former ski jumper, won the Livške Ravne mountain finish and received 12 points for the Mountains classification. His success is even bigger because the climb to Livške Ravne is even more demanding than the finishing climb to Vršič.

13.50: Only Pirazzi and Roglič remain in the lead from the whole group that broke away in the beginning. The peloton is only 1 min 20 s behind the leading duo and is slowly “eating” the other breakaways.

13.42: Only three riders remain in the lead: Wesley Sulzberge (Orica-Green Edge), Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) and Primož Roglič (Adria Mobil). Pirazzi dictates the tempo, the leading three breakaways are 1 min 15 s in front of the peloton.

13.30: Finetto (Italy) is the most active in the breakaway group, he dictates a fast tempo. Roglič is right behind him, but the tempo was too fast for Mugerli, who fell behind.

13.28: Only eight riders remain in the lead, three fell behind. The breakaways are only 1 min 20 s in front of the peloton.

13.20: The riders began the 9-kilometer-climb to Livške Ravne on the 90 km mark. This 13% climb is supposed to be even harder than the climb to Vršič. The leading group fell apart, the peloton is closing in slowly.

13.15: The riders passed the buffet, where they regained their strength and shook their heavy feet. The breakaways are 2 minutes ahead of the peloton on the 79 km mark.

13.00: Matej Mugerli (Adria Mobil) won the intermediate sprint in Tolmin. The breakaways sped up, they are 3 min 20 s in front of the peloton. Mauro Finetto, Italy (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia) had a flat tire, but caught up with the leading drivers.

12.45: The riders will soon reach the Tolmin intermediate sprint. The leading 11 riders are only 3 minutes in front of the peleton. Otherwise, there have been no big surprises.

12.38: We received new information only a few minutes after the last measurement: the pelodon sped up a bit and melted the breakaways' lead somewhat—they are 3 min 30s ahead of the peloton.

12.35: Fifty kilometres of the queen stage is behind us, the breakaways are already 4 minutes in front of the peloton.

12.33: Wesley Sulzberger (Australia) was the highest ranked rider from the breakaway group in overall classification. He was on the 8th place, 29 seconds behind Mauro Finetto.

12.30: Primož Roglič (Adria Mobil) is a part of the leading group. Last year, he was a ski jumper, but this year he surprisingly switched over to cycling.

12.15: The average cycling speed after one hour is 38 km/h. The 11 riders in the front are still increasing the lead, the tempo is dictated by the Meridiana, Adria and Lampre teams.

12.10: Ilja Davidenok (Continental Team Astana) is the first to pack today after falling. The broom wagon already picked him up.

12.05: The breakaways passed the first mountain finish with Matej Mugerli from Adria Novo Mesto in the front. Now they are descending fast, their lead is even bigger—2 min 30 s.

12.00: Pirazzi almost caught up with the leading riders, once again there are 11 riders in the lead. The breakaway riders are already near Sorica, the first mountain finish.

11.55: Tratnik lags behind the leading riders, Mugerli dictates the fast tempo of breakaways. They are more than a minute in front of the pelodon (1 min 18 s).

11.50: Stefano Pirazzi, Italy (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) wants to chase the leading 11 riders. The climb to Sorica begins.

11.45: There were many breakaway attempts, but only one succeeded. Eleven riders broke away: Matej Mugerli (Adria Mobil), Primož Roglič (Adria Mobil), Sander Armee (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Wilson Marentes (Colombia), Mauro Finetto(Vini Fantini-Selle Italia), Adriano Malori (Lampre), Jure Bitenc (Sava Kranj), Jan Tratnik (Tirol), Andrea Pasqualon (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox), Luka Pibernik (Radenska) and Wesley Sulzberge (Orica-Green Edge). They are a lot faster than the peloton.

11.40: The pelodon tempo is really fast, the riders are already near the first mountain finish on Sorica (27 km mark).

11.35: The riders Matej Mugerli (Adria Mobil), Andrej Rajšp (Radenska), Michael Rodriguez (Colombia), Laurens De Vreese (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Jan Tratnik (Tirol) tried to break away, but they were chased by Jeffry Romero (Colombia), Fabio Taborre (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia), Wesley Sulzberge (Orica-Green Edge) and Francesco Failli (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia). The peloton caught up and continues together, but it's very stretched.

11.28: The riders are enjoying a sunny weather. They might get wet in the afternoon, the forecast says there is a chance of storms in Bovec and Kranjska Gora.

11.22: From the very start, some riders tried to break away, but were unsuccessful. The pelodon is still together.

11.20: The race begins. The riders have 170 km to go in the heat and the stage will be finished with a 13-kilometre-climb to Vršič.

11.15: The caravan begun the queen stage, which runs from Škofja Loka to the Vršič pass. There were quite a few spectators in Škofja Loka, they enjoyed looking at the riders, racing on the Tour of Slovenia. The riders finished the lap around Škofja Loka in five minutes.

11.00: What did Patrik Sinkewitz (Germany), the first favourite for the overall winner, who fell on Friday and because of that didn't win the second stage, say before the race: “I can already feel the pain. I slept only two hours, but I won't give up. I will fight. My legs are strong, we will see if the injury will cause any problems. The competition is very strong, the race will be interesting.”

The queen stage is 170 km long and will begin in Škofja Loka. The riders will take the route past Železniki to Sorica where they will conquer the first of the three mountain finishes in this stage. The climb to Sorica is 5 km long. After that, the riders will descend to Podbrdo past Most na Soči to Tolmin, where they will finish the first intermediate sprint. The riders will have to use the next 13 kilometres to Idrsko well, because after that, they will begin a 10-kilometre-climb to Livške Ravne with an elevation gain of 939 m. After this very difficult climb, the riders will descend past Tolmin to Kobarid, where they will finish the second intermediate sprint. After that, they have 40 km to rest before they start an extremely difficult 13-kilometre-climb to finish the race on Vršič.