German professional cyclist Florian Lipowitz has taken the lead in the general classification ahead of the final stage of the Tour of Slovenia. Last year’s third-placed finisher in the Tour de France won the fourth stage ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Giulio Pellizzari. After 184.7 kilometres from Kranj to Kranjska Gora, both crossed the finish line almost simultaneously, celebrating, but Lipowitz was just ahead.
The 25-year-old has thus overtaken his team-mate Laurence Pithie from New Zealand at the top of the general classification. The tour, which is missing the big names, finishes on Sunday in Nove Mesto. “I’m very happy to have won again after almost two years,” said Lipowitz in his post-race interview. “Tomorrow’s stage is going to be another tricky one.”
On the queen stage, Lipowitz was the first to cross the 1,611-metre-high Vrsic Pass, thereby laying the foundations for his first victory of the season. In the overall standings, his team-mate Pellizzari is four seconds behind, whilst third place is held by the Slovenian Jakob Omrzel, who trails by 1 minute 32 seconds. Omrzel had also finished third on the fourth stage, just under one and a half minutes behind.
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