Tour of Slovenia 2019 – Stage 2 [LAST 20 KM]

June 20, 2019

Tour of Slovenia 2019 – Stage 2 – Maribor – Celje : 146,3 km

The Tour of Slovenia is marking its jump to 2.HC level this year with a line up that includes five WorldTour teams and a roster that includes Mark Cavendish, Tadej Pogacar, Pascal Ackermann and Esteban Chaves.

Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) surprised himself with the stage 2 victory at the Tour of Slovenia, after catching what looked like the winning breakaway in the closing metres of the race. Mezgec planned his sprint perfectly, taking the faster line toward the finish line and the reduced-group sprint victory ahead of Grega Bole (Bahrain Merida) and Andrea Vendrame (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) in Celje.

“I was not sure we were going to catch the breakaway on the last climb,” said Mezgec, who was part of the chase group. “But when I saw 400 metres to go, I went full gas and I was hoping the front group would go left and take the shorter line into the finish, and they did, so I could take double-speed around on the right, and that was it.

“They were always 20 or 25 seconds ahead on the flat and then I was trying to motivate our group to pull a little bit. To be honest, with five kilometres to go, I didn’t think we would succeed in catching them, but in the end we did.”

With Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) dropped on the final climb, Mezgec now leads the overall classification heading into Friday’s stage 3 from Žalec to Idrija. He is four seconds ahead of Bole and six seconds ahead of Vendrame.

Thursday’s second stage from Maribor to Celje was a 146.3km race that included two climbs. The first was a located 25km into the race and was a category 3 ascent over Veliko Tinje (4.3km and 7 per cent). The second was located 123km into the race, and peaked with some 20km to go, a category 2 climb over Svetina (5.5km at 7 per cent).

A breakaway of seven riders held a gap of 25 seconds on the final descent and flat section into the finish city. The breakaway included the likes of Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott), Tadej Pogacar and Diego Ulissi (both UAE Team Emirates), Ben Hermans (Isreal Cycling Academy) and Giovanni Visconti (Neri-Sottoli).

They pushed on to maintain a small gap of 25 seconds into the closing kilometres but it wasn’t enough to hold off a charging reduce-group behind. The chase bunch made the catch in the final few hundred metres, through the last corner, with Mezgec securing the stage win and taking the overall lead.

Results :
1 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 3:35:55
2 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
3 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
4 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
5 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
6 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
7 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
8 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
9 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
10 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
11 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
12 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
13 Radoslav Rogina (Cro) Adria Mobil
14 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
15 Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
16 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
17 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
18 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Meridiana Kamen Team
19 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
20 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:04
21 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
22 Matteo Busato (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:09
23 Tomáz Kalojiros (Cze) AC Sparat Raha 0:01:38
24 Kristjan Hocevar (Slo) Slovenia
25 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
26 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
27 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
28 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
29 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:03:07
30 Andi Bajc (Slo) Felbermayr Simplon Wels
31 Ziga Groselj (Slo) Adria Mobil
32 Lars Bak Ytting (Den) Dimension Data
33 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
34 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
35 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
36 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Dimension Data
37 Aljaz Prah (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic
38 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
39 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
40 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:03:26
41 Tilen Finkst (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic 0:05:11
42 Martin Lavric (Slo) Slovenia
43 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM 0:08:00
44 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
45 Matic Veber (Slo) Slovenia
46 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
47 Jan Stohr (Cze) AC Sparat Raha 0:09:09
48 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
49 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
50 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:11:45
51 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
52 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
53 Ziga Rucigaj (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic
54 Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Meridiana Kamen Team
55 Ruben Dario Acosta (Col) Nippo-ViniFantini-Faizane
56 Tomáz Schuhler (Cze) AC Sparat Raha 0:13:38
57 Frantizek Honsa (Cze) AC Sparat Raha
58 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
59 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
60 Luka Cotar (Slo) Slovenia
61 Mamyr Stash (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
62 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
63 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
64 Emanuel Kizerlovski (Cro) Meridiana Kamen Team
65 Aljaz Jarc (Slo) Adria Mobil
66 Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
67 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF
68 Imerio Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
69 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
70 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
71 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
72 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
73 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
74 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
75 Luka Lakota (Slo) Slovenia
76 Matic Groselj (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic
77 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
78 Josip Rumac (Cro) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
79 Michal Schuran (Slo) AC Sparat Raha
80 Rok Korosec (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic
81 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
82 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
83 Gazper Katrasnik (Slo) Adria Mobil
84 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani CSF
85 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
86 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:13:45
87 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
88 Benjamin Hill (Aus) Ljubljana Gusto Santic
89 David Per (Slo) Adria Mobil
90 Marko Kump (Slo) Adria Mobil
91 Matej Drinovec (Slo) Slovenia
92 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
93 Timothy Guy (Aus) Ljubljana Gusto Santic
94 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
95 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
96 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
97 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
98 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
99 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Dimension Data
100 Fabien Schmidt (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
101 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
102 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
103 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
104 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data 0:14:04
105 Stephan Rabitsch (Aut) Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:14:25
106 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Felbermayr Simplon Wels
107 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:14:29
108 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
109 Antonino Pigliese (ita) Meridiana Kamen Team 0:14:43
110 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:14:44
111 Matteo Spreafico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:14:46
112 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
113 Matthias Mangertseder (Ger) Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:14:49
114 Przemyszaw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
115 Ziga Horvat (Slo) Adria Mobil
116 Laurent Evrard (Bel) Meridiana Kamen Team 0:14:52
117 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:14:55
118 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:15:36
119 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe
120 Florian Kierner (Aut) Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:15:45
121 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:44
122 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
123 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:17:16
DNS Daniel Lehner (Aut) Felbermayr Simplon Wels

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 7:40:43
2 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:04
3 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:06
4 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:07
5 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:10
6 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
7 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
8 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
9 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
10 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
11 Radoslav Rogina (Cro) Adria Mobil
12 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
13 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
14 Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
15 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
16 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
17 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
18 Jay Mc Carthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
19 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Meridiana Kamen Team
20 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:14
21 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
22 Matteo Busato (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:17
23 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:48
24 Tomáz Kalojiros (Cze) AC Sparat Raha
25 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
26 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
27 Andi Bajc (Slo) Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:03:17
28 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
29 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
30 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
31 Ziga Groselj (Slo) Adria Mobil
32 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
33 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:03:36
34 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:44
35 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:08:10
36 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM
37 Kristjan Hocevar (Slo) Slovenia 0:08:12
38 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:09:41
39 Aljaz Prah (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic 0:11:22
40 Martin Lavric (Slo) Slovenia 0:11:45
41 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:11:55
42 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
43 Ziga Rucigaj (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic
44 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:11:56
45 Lars Bak Ytting (Den) Dimension Data 0:13:25
46 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Dimension Data
47 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:13:45
48 Aljaz Jarc (Slo) Adria Mobil
49 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:13:48
50 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
51 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
52 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
53 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:13:51
54 Marko Kump (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:13:55
55 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Dimension Data
56 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data 0:14:08
57 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:14:09
58 David Per (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:14:22
59 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:14:34
60 Stephan Rabitsch (Aut) Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:14:35
61 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:50
62 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:14:53
63 Matteo Spreafico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:14:56
64 Tilen Finkst (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic 0:15:29
65 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:16:03
66 Matic Veber (Slo) Slovenia 0:16:15
67 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:54
68 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:17:24
69 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:17:26
70 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:02
71 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:18:18
72 Jan Stohr (Cze) AC Sparat Raha 0:19:27
73 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
74 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:19:33
75 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:20:00
76 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20:04
77 Josip Rumac (Cro) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:20:12
78 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
79 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:20:19
80 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM 0:21:16
81 Rok Korosec (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic 0:21:44
82 Mamyr Stash (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:21:53
83 Imerio Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
84 Luka Cotar (Slo) Slovenia
85 Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
86 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF
87 Luka Lakota (Slo) Slovenia
88 Gazper Katrasnik (Slo) Adria Mobil
89 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
90 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida
91 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
92 Benjamin Hill (Aus) Ljubljana Gusto Santic 0:22:00
93 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
94 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
95 Matej Drinovec (Slo) Slovenia
96 Matteo Rabottini (Ita) Meridiana Kamen Team 0:22:03
97 Ruben Dario Acosta (Col) Nippo-ViniFantini-Faizane
98 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:22:44
99 Matthias Mangertseder (Ger) Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:23:04
100 Przemyszaw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
101 Matic Groselj (Slo) Ljubljana Gusto Santic 0:23:55
102 Damiano Cima (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:23:56
103 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
104 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
105 Emanuel Kizerlovski (Cro) Meridiana Kamen Team
106 Tomáz Schuhler (Cze) AC Sparat Raha
107 Frantizek Honsa (Cze) AC Sparat Raha
108 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
109 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
110 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani CSF
111 Michal Schuran (Slo) AC Sparat Raha
112 Timothy Guy (Aus) Ljubljana Gusto Santic 0:24:03
113 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
114 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
115 Fabien Schmidt (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
116 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
117 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:24:47
118 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:24:59
119 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:25:02
120 Laurent Evrard (Bel) Meridiana Kamen Team 0:25:10
121 Florian Kierner (Aut) Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:26:03
122 Antonino Pigliese (ita) Meridiana Kamen Team 0:33:09
123 Ziga Horvat (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:33:15