Tour of Slovenia: Anders Halland Johannessen claims overall title after dramatic finale on stage 5

Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) confirmed his overall victory of the Tour of Slovenia with a dominant ride on a dramatic final day into Novo mesto, as Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won the reduced bunch sprint for stage 5.

Having built his lead with consistent performances across the previous four stages, Johannessen simply had to not get dropped on the undulating final day, and he made sure of that by attacking the final climb to Trška Gora behind the breakaway, and finishing in the main group.

The Norwegian was once again the strongest GC rider on the road, and it looked like the day was going to go to Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek), the final remnant of the early break; however, he was reeled in just as the race reached the final kilometres. 

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Lidl-Trek tried to salvage the stage with Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) leading out Andrea Bagioli, but the Italian was unable to keep up with Oliveira, who surged to the line and celebrated with big emotion.

Johannessen was guided home safely by Johannes Kulset to take the overall win, with the latter finishing sixth on GC thanks to a great week of racing in Slovenia. Oliveira’s teammate, Felix Großschartner, finished second overall, with Geoghegan Hart rounding out the final podium.

“All this stage was really chaotic, really hard from the beginning, then Uno-X controlled the break. I didn’t survive the last steep climb, but I came back on the descent. Once I came back, Felix paced for me to catch Juanpe, we got him in the last kilometre,” said Oliveira, describing the final.

“I like to sprint from far, and this corner to the bridge was key. I knew if I went long, it’s super hard to catch me. I kept looking behind because I didn’t know how close they were, and man, I’m super happy.

“My brother took one stage win, I took a second one, it’s amazing. Also, Felix was second on GC and showed how good he is before working for me as a teammate. Kudos to him, and all my team.”

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