Vrečer and Koren victorious in the time trial

The yellow jersey for winning the race and the blue jersey for Best Young Rider went to Robert Vrečer. The 2nd stage from Koper to Nova Gorica (189.6 km) will take place on Friday.

The winner Robert Vrečer commented on his win in the time trial: "I’m at a loss for words, I don’t know what to say. I’m satisfied, but I really wasn’t expecting this. I feel as if we have done everything possible already today. Phenomenal! There were many spectators by the track, they were all shouting my name, everyone knew me, the atmosphere is truly astounding. This is my biggest win so far, at least for me personally. The fans are already registering for Golte and I think the organisers need not fear anything. If they will attend in the numbers I think they will, the road will be very narrow at the top."

20.01 - Robert Vrečer took the lead on arriving to the finish and said: "I’m particularly satisfied to see that I am in shape. I was afraid that I won’t be able to show the shape I was in ten days ago in Austria. I can only say: Golte, here we come! The track is not demanding, the first section was a little technical, everyone was careful there as any mistakes can cause a fall pretty fast. Once you are on Dolenjska cesta, the best thing to do is to lower your head and give it your all. Suffer, suffer, and then suffer some more."

19.45 - Kristijan Koren (Liquigas-Butan plin) had an average speed of 50.33 km/h. "When I took a look at the track, I said to myself that if I can keep riding at more than fifty for the entire time, I will be among the top. I started as best I could, I knew I had some wind in the back and that after the U-turn the wind will become a headwind, so I used the first part to the fulles."

Kristijan Koren (Liquigas-Butan plin) had an average speed of 50.33 km/h. "When I took a look at the track, I said to myself that if I can keep riding at more than fifty for the entire time, I will be among the top. I started as best I could, I knew I had some wind in the back and that after the U-turn the wind will become a headwind, so I used the first part to the fullest. There are some competitors left, but I hope the positions will remain as they are. The feeling is magnificent, it would be great to race tomorrow on my roads, where I train, wearing the yellow jersey."

19.38 - At the finish, we also have Tomaž Nose who said: "A good warm-up is important, otherwise your legs will quickly start burning. I wanted to go over 50 km/h for the entire race, but I couldn’t keep it up on some sections because of the wind. At any rate, I’m satisfied. I could go around five seconds faster, but not more. In the continuation, the differences will be small and every second will count.

19.21 - At the finish line, Grega Bole told Sportal: "There are many spectators by the track and I'm very positively impressed. The atmosphere is fantastic, you can hear people cheering you on the entire time."

18.50 - The leader Giovanni Visconti said at the finish line: "I'm satisfied with my performance and the conditions of this race. I want to achieve a good result and I also see this race as excellent training for the Italian Championship."

18.01 - The first rider to start the 6.6 km time trial is Pavlin Balinsky (Konya Torku), with last year’s winner Vincenzo Nibali starting last (Liquigas-Butan plin).

Start – Ljubljana – The race has started.

17.25 - Many experts believe the favourites for this year are: Jure Golčer, Robert Vrečer, Mitja Mahorič and Vincenzo Nibali, who is defending his title.

17.20 - There will be 148 riders from 15 teams participating in the Tour de Slovénie. Four of the teams are from Slovenia. In total, the riders at the 18th Tour de Slovénie will cover a distance of 547.8 km.

17.05 - At the introduction leading to the start of the 18th Tour de Slovénie, we will see 35 recreational riders who applied with us at the Sportal, among them familiar faces from the world of sports, music, etc. The time trial for these riders begins at 17.15. To name a few of the well-known names: Miro Cerar, Franc Škerlj (placed 16th at the time trial at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City), Bojan Ropret, Mirko Tuš, Tone Tiselj, Marko Vozelj, Vili Resnik …

17.00 The 18th Tour de Slovénie will take place from Thursday to Sunday. It will start in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, with a 6.6 km time trial from 18.00 to 20.00. After that, we will see three stage races, with the ultimate finish line in Novo mesto, where Vincenzo Nibali won the yellow jersey last year.