Brett Lancaster made it a good race for Orica-GreenEdge in the Tour of Slovenia as the Australian beat Maximilano Richeze (Lampre) and his teammate Jens Keukeleire in the big bunch sprint in Nove Mesto on the final stage. Radoslav Rogina (Adria Mobil) crossed the line in a safe position in the middle of the peloton, thus securing his first overall win in the race after a number of near-misses.

All was set for a big bunch sprint in Nove Mesto to make a fitting end to the Tour of Slovenia and the spectators got to see exactly that. Brett Lancaster held off Maximilano Richeze and teammate Jens Keukeleire in the final dash to the line, thus making it a memorable race for his Australian Orica-GreenEdge team after Svein Tuft's win in the opening time trial and Wesley Sulzberger's close 2nd place in stage 2.

A bunch sprint was always on the cards but that did not prevent several riders from trying their hands in the early breakaway. The Adrial Mobil team of race leader Radoslav Rogina kept everything under control to make sure that no dangerous rider was allowed to slip up the road.

19km into the race, Michael Rodriguez (Colombia), Tim Declercq (Topsport-Vlaanderen), Pavel Kochetkov (Rusvelo), Mauro Finetto (Vini Fantini) and Antonio Di Serafino (Androni) finally went clear and they were allowed to build up a gap of only 3 minutes before Adria Mobil started to control the advantage. For a long time, the Slovenian team kept the gap stable at around the 3-minute mark until Lampre also started to chase, the Italian team hoping to see Richeze winning a final sprint.

On the day's final categorized climb with 83km to go, 3nd placed Patrik Sinkewitz (Meridiana Kamen) showed that he was in no mood to admit defeat. He attacked on the steep slopes but was quickly reeled back in. However, the action saw the gap come down to just 1.30.

The peloton took a short breather, allowing the advantage to go back up to 2.40 before Orica-GreenEdge showed their intentions and started to chase. They were later replaced by Lampre who brought the gap down to only 50 seconds with 44km to go.

Lampre wanted to avoid an early catch and so stabilized the gap at around 50 seconds for a long time but with 15km to go, it was all over for the five escapees. All was now set for a bunch sprint as Lampre and Adria Mobil moved to the front on the final circuit in Nove Mesto.

It was, however, Orica-GreenEdge who benefited most from the day as Lancaster powered clear to take his first win since his stage victory in the 2010 Tour of California. Richeze could not pay back his teammates for their hard work and had to settle for second.

Rogina finished safely in the bunch to lock up his overall win, finally adding the race to his palmares after 3 previous top 6 finishes. Young talent Jan Polanc (Radenska) and Sinkewitz completed the podium.

Result:

1. Brett Lancaster

General classification:

1. Radoslav Rogina 13.05.56

2. Jan Polanc +0.19

3. Patrik Sinkewitz +0.37

4. Tadej Valjavec +1.05

5. Angelo Pagani +1.56

6. Darwin Atapuma +2.15

7. Jure Golcer +3.02

8. Enrico Barbin +3.22

9. Tilegen Maidos +3.51

10. Alexander Rybakov +3.55

Points classification:

1. Brett Lancaster 45

2. Radoslav Rogina 41

3. Jan Polanc 31

4. Enrico Barbin 31

5. Fabio Felline 30

Mountains classification:

1. Radoslav Rogina 15

2. Dalivier Ospina 12

3. Primoz Roglic 12

4. Laurens De Vreese 9

5. Patrik Sinkewitz 9

Youth classification:

1. Jan Polanc 13.06.15

2. Tilegen Maidos +3.32

3. Matej Mohoric +13.59

4. Luka Pibernik +30.04

5. Jaka Bostner +30.28

Teams classification:

1.Adria Mobil 39.26.56

2. Bardiani +13.08

3. Tirol +16.21

4. Topsport Vlaanderen +16.28

5. Astana +17.26