Today’s fourth stage of the Tour of Slovenia was the queen stage of the five-day race. The finish in Krvavec, at an altitude of 1,587 meters, provided the setting for the only mountain finish of the race.
For BORA - hansgrohe, the goal was to defend the leader’s jersey claimed yesterday by Giovanni Aleotti. The 25-year-old Italian accomplished this brilliantly, as Aleotti resisted all attacks from the competitors on the eleven-kilometre-long final climb. Although Spaniard Pello Bilbao pulled away slightly in the final meters, Aleotti crossed the finish line just three seconds later as the third-place finisher. The BORA - hansgrohe captain now heads into tomorrow’s final stage with a twelve-second lead over Bilbao, giving him the opportunity to win the overall classification of the Tour of Slovenia 2024
From the finish line
“It’s been a really tough day with the long climb at the end. I’m very grateful for the team’s support today, which allowed me to completely focus on the final climb. In the end, I lost a few seconds, but third place is still a good result. Tomorrow, I expect a lot of attacks, but we have a strong team, and we will try everything to defend the lead.” – Giovanni Aleotti
“Today’s race went almost perfectly for us. Giovanni was one of the strongest riders on the final climb, which was definitely an impressive performance from him. Even though the overall standings are now looking very good, tomorrow will be anything but easy. The competition definitely won't hand us the victory on a silver platter, and we expect a very tough race.” – Bernhard Eisel, Sports Director
Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency