Pascal Ackermann takes first chapter of 26th Tour of Slovenia

Best sprinter from Giro showed his muscles in the opening stage of the 26th Tour of Slovenia. Pascal Ackermann (BORA – hansgrohe) was first favorite for the sprints, but not everything went according to plan after Slovenian Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton – Scott) launched early attack.

171 kilometers long stage with start in Ljubljana and finish in Rogaška Slatina finished with the sprint finish, but with much smaller leading group than expected. 129 cyclists from 19 teams started the race in the capital of Ljubljana, with fans supporting one from the first meter to the finish line.

It wouldn’t be fair if we would say that nothing happened in the first half of the stage, thing were very intense for the three Slovenians that were in the long breakaway. Aljaž Jarc (Adria Mobil), Matic Grošelj (Ljubljana Gusto Santic) & Aleš Pirih (Team Slovenia) managed to create a gap of over four minutes, but the main group with World Tour teams in the front had everything under control. Jarc was the one that stayed in the break the longest and took one mountain and one intermediate finish and was rewarded with 5^th place overall and blue and white jersey.

Aljaž Jarc was of course happy with his performance on the start of the race: “We just had to be in the breakaway today, we knew that this can take you to the jersey. The three of us in the break were working together, all the way to the first serious climb when I was left alone. I’m in the blue jersey now and it feels good, that gives me great motivation for the next days.”

He was caught on the descent from Planina, and that is when the group of 10 riders was formed, Italian Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) was also there and he looked strong. On the end only five riders were left, but chasers with sprinters didn’t allow any surprises.

Peloton fell apart on the climb to Planina, but sprint favorites stayed up in the frontSurprise came with the long sprint in Rogaška Slatina, and Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton – Scott) is the one who is to be ‘blaimed’ for that. This is what Luka said about his surprise attack: “Group was smaller than expected, and I saw that other sprinters don’t have a lot of helpers. So I decided for an earlier sprint, I didn’t want to get stuck behind anybody. Unfortunately I had to ease down a little bit and with that I lost an even better result. I wanted to surprise them, but 500 meters long sprint was just too long.”

Attack came as a surprise to Pascal Ackermann as well, but he’s one of the best sprinters in the world right now and he took the race back in his own hands. Second and third were Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data) & Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates), Mezgec was fourth.

Pascal Ackermann after the race: “This was my longest sprint ever. Mezgec came from the back with surprised attack and I had to go behind him. On the end I was alone for at least 200 meters. But I’m in great form after Giro, I even enjoyed the climbs today. We had Schwarzmann in the break, so I was not nervous about it, we had it under control. I’m really happy with the performance of the team.”

Ackermann is now in the green jersey of the overall leader. 2^nd stage is 146,3 kilometers long and will go from Maribor to Celje, but will have bigger climbs and surprises are possible.