Florian Lipowitz concludes the Tour of Slovenia 2026 as master of the race. The general classification leader indeed finished a week of racing that was absolutely satisfactory for him by putting his seal on the green jersey with victory in the concluding stage, the Litija-Novo mesto of 169.4 kilometers.

Decisive for the former German biathlete was the acceleration delivered 9.3 kilometers from the finish when, on the climb of Trška Gora, he decisively dropped the competition and thus managed to secure a convincing second victory after the success achieved alongside Giulio Pellizzari in the queen stage 24 hours earlier.

On the final podium, alongside the white jersey of the last Tour de France, his teammate Giulio Pellizzari (at his last effort before a period of well-deserved rest) and the winner of the 2025 Giro d'Italia Next Gen Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain-Victorious) climb up with a positive Fancellu who must settle for the bronze medal, taking home a still positive fourth place.

Behind Lipowitz, to round out the tally of victories (4) and podium finishes (4) for Red Bull BORA hansgrohe, Laurence Pithie (star of the points classification) went on to regulate the group of the best, preceding Alessandro Fancellu (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Ivan Cobo (Equipo Kern Pharma), with Alex Tolio and Luca Covili (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) doing well to finish in eighth and tenth position respectively.

THE RACE

The uphill start towards the Vače climb immediately inspires the breakaway from the group of Fausto Masnada (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), David Louis Sutton (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Veljko Stojnić (Team United Shipping), Zsombor Palumby (Team United Shipping), Jakub Musialik (Wibatech Lubelskie Perła Polski) and David Lozano (Team Novo Nordisk) with the last three, however, quickly losing contact, leaving in the lead the trio composed of the Italian, the Briton and the Serb.

Working in common accord, the three remain together at the head, contending for the various intermediate sprints along the way until 70 kilometers from the finish when a mechanical problem forces Stojnić to irremediably say goodbye to the company of the other two companions of adventure.

We thus arrive with two men at the head at the Trebelno climb where, 43 kilometers from the finish, Masnada decides to drop Sutton, continuing his solo ride. This action allows him first of all to pocket the points necessary to momentarily place himself at the top of the best climber classification and, secondly, to nurture for a few kilometers the dream of stage victory which unfortunately for him, however, vanishes at -27 km from the conclusion when the group, put in line by an ever-hungry Red Bull BORA Hansgrohe, reabsorbs him.

With the main peloton thus composed of approximately 65 riders, the race proceeds swiftly towards the last and decisive climb of Trška Gora whose double-digit gradients pose no problems for the general classification leader Florian Lipowitz who, attacking decisively in the final tens of meters before the summit, gets his hands on the mountain jersey and, above all, launches himself solo in pursuit of the stage double.

Behind, Mats Wenzel (Equipo Kern Pharma), Joel Nicolau and Sebastian Berwick (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), Alessandro Fancellu (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) and Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain-Victorious) attempt to mount a chase but the five, also due to the passivity of Giulio Pellizzari (Lipowitz's teammate), do not find the right collaboration so much so that a group of about a dozen men catches up with them 3,000 meters from the finish.

To Lipowitz, meanwhile, all of this does not matter and thus, further increasing his margin in the final two kilometers, at the end he crosses the finish line without opposition, celebrating his fifth and sixth career victories as a professional and, no less importantly, the first German triumph ever in the overall of the Tour of Slovenia. Never indeed, from 1993 to today, had it happened that a German representative closed the race on the highest step of the podium, a mission accomplished in the 32nd edition by a Lipowitz capable of imposing himself decisively also thanks to the help of a Red Bull that, in steamroller version, archives the Slovenian race by winning four stages out of five and three of the four available jerseys.

No success, on the contrary, for the Italian colors which, with 30 participants at the start (the highest figure among the nations represented in this edition), close the event with four stage podiums (those of Zambanini, Fancellu, Oldani and Pellizzari) and four men (Pellizzari 2nd, Fancellu 4th, Tolio 8th and Covili 9th) in the top ten of the final overall standings.

FINISHING ORDER

1. Florian Lipowitz (GER/Red Bull BORA hansgrohe) - 4:03:16

2. Laurence Pithie (NZL/Red Bull BORA hansgrohe) at 0:24

3. Alessandro Fancellu (ITA/MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) at 0:24

4. Joel Nicolau (SPA/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 0:24

5. Iván Cobo (SPA/Equipo Kern Pharma) at 0:24

6. Hugo de la Calle (SPA/Burgos Burpellet BH) at 0:24

7. Sebastian Berwick (AUS/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 0:24

8. Alex Tolio (ITA/Bardiani CSF 7Saber) at 0:24

9. Jakob Omrzel (SLO/Bahrain-Victorious) at 0:24

10. Luca Covili (ITA/Bardiani CSF 7Saber) at 0:24

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Florian Lipowitz (GER/Red Bull BORA hansgrohe) 19:45:44

2. Giulio Pellizzari (ITA/Red Bull BORA hansgrohe) at 0:42

3. Jakob Omrzel (SLO/Bahrain-Victorious) at 2:06

4. Alessandro Fancellu (ITA/MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) at 2:49

5. Sebastian Berwick (AUS/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 2:55

6. Samuel Fernández (SPA/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 2:57

7. Joel Nicolau (SPA/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at 3:21

8. Alex Tolio (ITA/Bardiani CSF 7Saber) at 3:24

9. Luca Covili (ITA/Bardiani CSF 7Saber) at 3:37

10. Iván Cobo (SPA/Equipo Kern Pharma) at 4:15

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS

Points classification: Laurence Pithie (NZL/Red Bull BORA hansgrohe)

Mountain classification: Florian Lipowitz (GER/Red Bull BORA hansgrohe)

Best young rider classification: Jakob Omrzel (SLO/Bahrain-Victorious)