Sweltering, intense heat baked the road as the peloton tackled a grueling and highly technical Stage 2 of the Tour of Slovenia. Running across narrow, twisting roads that mirrored the tactical stress of the opening day, the relentless heat demanded an endless supply of ice and water from the team cars. The tactical blueprint from our staff was crystal clear from the gun: secure the first categorized climb at the 16 kilometer mark to keep the mountain classification jersey firmly within our ranks. Right on cue, a powerful five-man breakaway snapped the elastic, with Zsombor Palumby anchoring the move. The breakaway companions, largely comprised of heavier riders, practically begged to keep the pace steady on the lower slopes, but as the crest neared, a representative from Pogi Team Gusto Ljubljana launched a fierce acceleration. Despite a tactical squeeze from the local riders, Palumby lunged across the line by half a wheel to scoop maximum points.
The escapees co-operated well through heavy headwinds until Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe organized a furious chase, dissolving the gap down to 30 seconds before absorbing the move. High-speed drama struck on a treacherous downhill left turn in the final kilometers, where a massive peloton crash caused a temporary race neutralization due to a shortage of available ambulances. Following a tense restart, the remaining sprinters organized for a frantic finish, where Dušan Rajović of Solution Tech NIPPO Rali power-sprinted to the stage victory. Out of the chaos, Nikiforos Arvanitou delivered an extraordinary performance, surging from deep in the pack over the final 200 meters to claim a brilliant third place on the podium, capping off a structurally perfect day with no mechanical issues or crash involvement for our lineup.
Zsombi’s tactical masterclass and a near miss with chaos
Yesterday I lost quite a bit of time on the stage, so today I didn’t have much left to lose. I already woke up this morning feeling much better compared to yesterday. The plan was to get the first KOM with Tomas, or if a breakaway forms, to be in the action and also collect the KOM points. I moved around a lot at the beginning, and finally five of us managed to break away.
I was with relatively bigger riders today, so they practically begged not to go up the first hill too fast, so until the final steep part, the pace was really quiet. Here the “Pogis” rider launched, and although I felt a bit like the other Slovenians wanted to close me in, I finally managed to reach the top half a wheel ahead of him, and thus get the maximum points. I am satisfied with how it turned out.
After the mountain, we rode in a headwind for a long time, but I could eat, drink normally, and pick up ice from the car. We also worked together, so I felt good in the breakaway today.
When we saw that the field started to push harder, we also turned it up as the breakaway reached the finish city. At that time, I still thought that we could easily go until the second mountain sprint, and from behind I also got the information that we still had time. In the end, however, thanks to Bora, our advantage melted quickly, and the field approached us to within half a minute. At that time, I was still trying to push to stay in front, but eventually they caught us.
Even here I was trying to position myself at the front when the big crash happened. Someone in front of me from Modern Adventure Pro Cycling fell, and his bike almost hit me too, so it didn’t take much for today to end terribly… It was a ugly, big crash with many injured, but fortunately everyone from us escaped it.
After the short neutralization and the restart, I just rolled into the finish line with the second group.
I felt good all day, and now, after the stage, it is the same, so I see a chance that we can keep the jersey for tomorrow too. On the first hill there is still a chance to get points, but the second one promises to be brutal.
Niki’s podium surge and Balkan rivalry
I am quite happy. I believe I had the legs and the speed for the victory today. I came from far back and passed many guys in the last 200 meters.
The stage was quite nice until the final kilometers when we hit the steep climbs. I tried to stay as close to the front as possible because I knew Bora would attack again. I saw the crash, it happened right in front of me on a high speed left turn on the downhill. I was so scared: I knew it was serious. Fortunately, it didn’t affect my race.
Rajovic is a friend of mine, but also a big rival. He is very strong, but I know I can beat him at the right moment. We always sprint against each other, and since we are both Balkan guys, it’s nice to challenge one another.
Tomorrow, I think you will see Pridal showing off his climbing skills. As for me, I’m looking forward to the easier days!
Photo: Marcell Lippai
