News | Tour of Slovenia • June 11, 2021
Trentin takes podium in Slovenia as Pogačar retains lead
Sprint on stage 3 as mountain test looms
UAE Team Emirates continued their strong run in the Tour of Slovenia, thanks to Matteo Trentin’s third place in the sprint at the finish of the 3rd stage (Brezice-Krsko, 165.8 km).
The Italian was outpaced in the sprint by the winner Jon Aberasturi (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and by Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), adding another podium place to the third place by Rui Oliveira on the 1st stage and the success of Tadej Pogačar yesterday.
The 2020 Tour de France champion remains at the top of the overall standings with 1’15 “over Matej Mohoric and 1’28” over team mate Diego Ulissi.
The stage saw a breakaway of 7 riders go clear in the final 70kms before being brought back in the finale after work on the front by UAE Team Emirates, with Pogačar getting involved to set up the sprint.
Matteo Trentin was the designated sprinter for the Emirati team: starting long in the sprint, but unable to overcome Aberasturi and Mohoric.
Tadej Pogačar: “Today we focused on the goal of bringing the race down to a sprint. We worked well enough for Trentin, despite not having one last man to launch Matteo.
Considering that Trentin had been involved in a bad crash in the first stage, the third place still leaves us satisfied, and shows he’s okay and feeling strong.
I am happy to have defended the yellow jersey and pleased that my teammates kept their positions in the top 10 of the overall ranking.
It was great to wear the leaders jersey on the stage today, the support from the roadside was amazing. Tomorrow will be another busy day and I can’t wait to race”.
The 4th and penultimate stage of the Tour of Slovenia will start from Ajdovscina and will end in Nova Gorica, on an ascent of 2.4 km at an average gradient of 13.5%, after 164.1 km with 4 categorised climbs.
Stage 3 results:
1. Jon Aberasturi (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) 3h50’26 ”
2. Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) s.t.
3. Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
General classification after stage 3:
1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 1h56’03”
2. Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) 1’15″
3. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) 1’26″
