Tour of Slovenia: Visconti wins stage 4

Giovanni Visconti (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia) won the penultimate stage of the Tour of Slovenia, beating overall leader Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) to the line in a four-up sprint in Ajdovščina.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) placed third after playing a pivotal role in aiding Ulissi on the decisive climb of Predmeja, while Aleksandr Vlasov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) took fourth place. After surviving the toughest stage of the race, the 2011 winner Ulissi will expect to pick up his second overall victory at the Tour of Slovenia on Sunday.

The stage was animated by an early break featuring Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) but the move was pegged back ahead of the 9km ascent of Predmeja. Vlasov kicked off the attacking on the climb after his Gazprom teammates set a fearsome tempo on the lower slopes. He was joined immediately by Pogacar who marked the move and waited for Visconti and Ulissi to bridge across.

“Our goal was to defend the green jersey, and we did that perfectly, the whole team was working together,” Pogacar said. “Each of us gave 100 percent. Team Gazprom-Rusvelo started with very strong pace on climb to Predmeja, Vlasov attacked shortly after that. I covered his attack and waited for Ulissi. I’m happy with my race, I’m stronger with each of the stages and I’m giving my best. I wish the race would be longer.”

Pogacar, Vlasov, Ulissi and Visconti crested the summit together and combined well to come home 32 seconds clear of the chasing group that featured Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott). Visconti produced a sharp sprint to hold off his fellow countryman Ulissi for the stage honours.

“I was waiting for the sprint finish, our sports director is always saying that you either win or lose the race in the sprint,” Visconti said. “Today it worked out for me.”

Ulissi retains the leader’s green jersey and carries a buffer of 22 seconds over Visconti into Sunday’s final stage. Vlasov lies third overall at 25 seconds, with Pogacar a further 5 seconds back in fourth.

“The stage was hard, with rain in the beginning and hard climb on the end. Vlasov launched a strong attack, but Pogačar had him covered,” Ulissi said. “I want to thank him for his help on my way to defend the green jersey. This was a climb for the pure climbers, and I’m not that. Tadej did excellent job in the beginning of the climb when he covered the attack, I had some problems at that point and only caught up with them later.”

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