Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) won stage 1 of the Tour of Slovenia, launching a powerful sprint to the line in Škofljica for just his second victory of the season.
The Dutch champion was perfectly led into the final corner by his teammates in purple, however, he could sense it was too early. He then latched onto the final two riders of UAE Team Emirates-XRG's train for the final sprint, before holding on to the line after kicking out of Ivo Oliveira's slipstream with 150 metres to go.
Groenewegen was able to celebrate just past the finish, before sitting down in the shade, exhausted from his effort, with Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) taking second and Manuel Peñalver (Polti VisitMalta) finishing third a bike length behind.
Article continues belowTim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) was perfectly placed to challenge the big Dutchman in his wheel, but couldn't match his kick in the final, with Groenewegen adding to his win last month from the Tour of Hungary.
He leads the race overall by one second from Fabio Christen (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), whose day in the early breakaway saw him take nine bonus seconds on the road. Groenewegen will likely have a chance to double his win tally Thursday on the undulating stage to Rogaška Slatina.
"The best position was in the wheel of Max [Walscheid], but these long straights into the last two corners were really important to have a good position," said Groenewegen as he recalled the finish.
"We were fighting a bit with UAE. Max took the perfect corner, but I was a little bit in between the UAE guys, so they let a gap go in the last corner. I went to the wheel, continued my sprint, and luckily it was enough.
"It was not my best day on the bike, because I was a bit sick three days before, but I recovered well, and I think it will be better every day now.
"I'm really happy with how we did as the team, and really happy with the victory."
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