The 2024 Tour of Slovenia drew to a close with a hilly stage to Novo Mesto crowning Giovanni Aleotti (Bora-Hansgohe) as champion, with the Italian successfully defending his overall lead on the 157km stage.
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) came away with the stage win after attacking with just under 3km to go, crossing the line six seconds ahead of a select chase group to take his first victory of the 2024 season.
Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) led the chase home for second place ahead of Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) as Aleotti finished in the 21-man chase group in 11th, one spot ahead of his main yellow jersey rival, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious).
Healy had been the first of the big names to make a major move on the stage, jumping away with 50km left to run and a 15-man breakaway still up the road. His attack drew out Paul Double (Polti-Kometa) as leader Giovanni Aleotti mounted a chase with his team further back.
Pello Bilbao also made it into the dangerous attack, with the move holding a lead of around 30 seconds on the chase as they swept up riders dropping from the break.
At 12km to go, approaching the race finale, the attackers caught up with the last of the breakaway riders before Healy made another move on the steep climb of Trška Gora (1.5km at 10.5%).
Healy led over the top along with breakaway survivor Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) and another attacker in Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers), the trio carrying a gap of around 10 seconds over the chasing group heading onto the flat finishing roads.
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They'd hold and even extend their advantage on the run towards Novo Mesto, bringing it up to 15 seconds at the 5km mark, even as Aleotti, Bilbao, and the Spaniard's teammate Matej Mohorič jumped across.
With a strong leading group, it was all set for a heavyweight battle over the final stage victory, but Healy trumped his rivals with another attack 2.8km from the finish.
Behind him, there was no real reply, at least not one which could put a dent in his move, and so he held on to score the win. Behind him, the swollen chase group meant that there would be no major tremors at the top of the overall standings, with Aleotti defending his lead to take the win ahead of Bilbao and Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane).
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor before being hired full-time. Her favourite races include the Paris-Roubaix, Tour de France Femmes, Tro-Bro Léon, and cycling's fourth Grand Tour, the Volta a Portugal.
