Attacking Ulissi fifth at Tour of Slovenia

Diego Ulissi is showing his great shape on the roads of Slovenia, with plenty of aggressive racing from the Italian in the opening stages. A strong attack by the Tuscan rider on the final lumps of the day whittled the group down to a select few, among them young Slovenian of UAE Team Emirates Pogačar. Five of the group stayed to the line, with the pace in the bunch pulling back the remainders in the last 250 meters of the stage.

“I tried to split it up a bit on the climb, but unfortunately, there was still a long way to the line,” says Diego Ulissi, “When there are sprinters behind with guys riding on the front it’s hard to hold off. The condition is certainly good and the general classification remains a goal, but let’s see what happens day by day. “

Victory in the sprint went to Luka Mezceg (Mitchelton-Scott), who now leads the GC ahead of Grega Bole (Bahrain-Merida) and Andrea Vendrame (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec). Fifth place went to Diego Ulissi and ninth to Tadej Pogačar, who now lie fourth and eighth respectively in the GC.

The new leader of the young riders classification Tadej Pogačar was pleased with his ride: “I am happy to be at the top of the youth rankings, I’m proud to have won this ranking the past two years. Today I made it into the move with Ulissi, but then I had to reduce my pace to avoid blowing “.

Tomorrow is stage three and takes the riders from Zalec to Idrija over 169.8 km, with four classified climbs, the last one coming 20 km from the finish line.

Stage 2 results:
1 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 3:35:55
2 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida s.t.
3 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec s.t.
5 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates s.t.
9 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates s.t.

General classification after stage 2:
1 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 7:40:43
2 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida +4 ’’
3 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec +6 ’’
4 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates +7 ’’
8 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates +10 ’’
10 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates +10 “