Sebastián Molano sprints to second on stage 3 at Tour of Slovenia

On stage 3 of the Tour of Slovenia, Sebastián Molano sprinted to second place for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, narrowly missing out on the day’s victory to Dylan Groenewegen of Jayco AlUla. The Colombian launched his sprint with 300m to go, but ultimately came up just short in the uphill kick to the line.

Earlier in the stage, António Morgado and Rune Herregodts had kept their leaders safe and out of trouble, as the sun lashed the peloton with a searing heat.

With bottles of water aplenty, the peloton went about its business from Majšperk to Ormož, showing little concern for the threat that came from out front. Initially numbering six riders, the day’s breakaway was best represented by Nejc Komac (Factory Racing) in the finale.

The Slovene youngster made a daring bid to ride alone to the finish, but was ultimately caught inside the final 3km. It was a fine effort from Komac, who came close to pulling off an unlikely victory.

With the breakaway mopped up, UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Rui and Ivo Oliveira piloted Molano towards the front of the bunch, and it was the 30-year-old who opened up his sprint first. Hitting the front with a little over 300m to ride, Molano delivered a great turn of speed and initially looked to have enough to hang on.

However, it was Groenewegen who benefited from a slightly later launch, riding his way to a second stage victory of the week.

Behind the fireworks, Felix Großschartner remained out of danger and cruised over the line, putting himself into a handy position heading into Saturday’s summit finish. The Austrian sits in fifth place overall and will hope to stretch his legs over the weekend.

Molano: “It was really close today. In the end, I did not see Ivo preparing his lead-out on the right-hand side of the road, and this is why I launched a little early. The finish was a bit uphill and with such a long kick, it was hard to hold on.

“It’s a shame not to get the victory because I know how close I am. Groenewegen is strong but today I had the legs. With some better luck, it was ours. Anyway, we have two more opportunities to chase the victory, so we will give it everything.”

Tour of Slovenia 2025 stage 3 results

1. Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) 3:57:48

2. Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

3. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) s.t

General classification after Tour of Slovenia stage 3

1. Fabio Christen (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) 11:31:15

2. Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +16″

3. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) +21″

4. Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +25″

5. Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t