Giovanni Aleotti has won the jubilee edition

Ben Healy (EF Education - Easypost) won the explosive fifth stage from Šentjernej to Novo mesto after a fierce attack, while Giovanni Aleotti (BORA - hansgrohe) was also successful today in the final battle for the green jersey. A battle which lasted practically the whole stage. Slovenians Luka Mezgec (Team Jayco AlUla) and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) were fourth and fifth on the stage, with Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates) finishing in the 12^th place in the overall standings.

The first four stages of the jubilee Tour of Slovenia were extremely dynamic, full of intense attacks and fierce battles for victories, bonuses and, ultimately, screen time around the world. In the fifth stage, the race literally exploded, with small differences in the overall standings and in the classifications forcing the teams to adopt new tactics and race even more aggressively, a real treat for all spectators. The icing on the cake would have been another great success for one of the Slovenian riders, unfortunately that did not happen.

The last stage, starting in Šentjernej and finishing on the Main Square in Novo mesto, was divided into three chapters. The first one saw some unsuccessful breakaways and a fight for deduction seconds at the first intermediate sprint. This was won by Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), who cut the gap to the race leader by two. In the middle of the race we saw a decent breakaway that lasted till the climb to Veliki Ban. In the last part we saw a fierce attack from Bahrain Victorious and at one point Bilbao was already in virtual green, but Giovanni Aleotti showed his determination once again and managed to join leaders after the climb to Trška gora. By that point the peloton was in small groups, with lots of jumps from one group to the other. And same as yesterday on Krvavec, no single rider was in the clear lead on the top of the climb. This made the race even more thrilling, with one of the heroes of the certainly being Ben Healy, who attacked at the right moment and held on all the way to the finish line to take a well-deserved stage win. Behind him, Mezgec and Mohorič also battled it out in the large bunch sprint, but it was Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) and Orluis Alberto Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) who took the stage podium.

All the jerseys were won by riders from Italy, with the highest-placed Slovenian being Domen Novak in 12th place. For the first time since 2016, Slovenian fans were left without a stage win by a Slovenian rider. But the fans' props are not to be put away in a corner, with the national championships in Trebnje a week away, and then many of them will surely head to France.

Ben Healy: “After losing time for GC yesterday I got some revenge today. I know how to win, how I like to win, and it was always a plan to go full gas on that first climb and try to catch them by surprise. They caught me on the last climb of the day, but the GC guys were playing silly buggers and I managed to get the gap and get to the line. 
I came here with good legs and knew I could win. To finish the last day like this, in a nice place and with a nice crowd. It was a really nice race, Slovenia is a great place to race bikes.”

Giovanni Aleotti: “It was a really hectic race, right from the start. I have to say that the race could have been different for me without my teammates. I am really thankful to them, for their commitment and help. With 40/50 kilometers to go a strong group was on the way, but we’re able to control the race. We’re not in panic in that moment, but I was a little bit worried. I think we showed a very solid team performance. On the end I knew I just have to focus on Bilbao, and it was good enough.
The result is really very nice. This is definitely my biggest achievement so far in my career. I have to say thank you to my team, my coach and all the people who helped me. Especially the team that always stood by me and supported me, even when I had hard times.”

 Also worth mentioning:
- After 30 editions, the score between Slovenia and the World is 14:16. This means that the foreign riders have won 16 editions and are in the lead for at least another year.
- Italy's Giovanni Aleotti was the surprise of the race and certainly took his best result today, but we must not forget that he was 4th overall in Slovenia last year. Overall, he was only 33 seconds behind the winner Fillipo Zano.
- The Italian riders won all four jerseys in this year's Tour of Slovenia, with VF Group-Bardiani CSF- Faizane' being the winning team of the race.
- Ben Healy of Ireland took his first win of the season today.
- ProContinental teams came to the Tour of Slovenia with ambitions for top spots, with six riders from these teams also finishing in the top ten.
- The truck you see at the finish line of each stage, carrying the timekeepers' cabins, the finishing arch and a terrace, continues its journey to the Tour de France.

Winners of the intermediate sprints
Trebnje (33.7 km): Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)
Sevnica (72.4 km): Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF- Faizane')
Krško (90.2 km): Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility)

K.O.M. competition
Veliki Ban (113.4 km): Alessandro De Marchi (Team Jayco Alula)
Trška gora (147.4 km): Ben Healy (EF Education - Easypost)

Jerseys
Green: Giovanni Aleotti (BORA – hansgrohe)
Red: Giovanni Aleotti (BORA – hansgrohe)
Indigo: Davide Baldaccini (Corratec Vini Fantini)
White: Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF- Faizane')

 Best team: VF Group-Bardiani CSF- Faizane'