Jens Keukeleire (Orica-GreenEDGE) broke a three-year drought when he emerged as the strongest from a front trio on stage 1 of the Tour de Slovenie. Having joined forces with Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) and Scott Thwaites (Bora-Argon 18) on a short, steep climb on the finishing circuit, he held off the peloton by three seconds and won the 3-rider sprint to take both the win and the leader’s jersey.

 

We have gathered a few reactions.

 

Jens Keukeleire: I am pretty fast at the end of a hard race

Belgian Jens Keukeleire took the victory on stage one of the Tour of Slovenia today after outstanding work in the finale by Australian teammate Jack Haig who finished fourth.

 

A tactically sound day unfolded for ORICA-GreenEDGE with Haig splitting the race on the final climb after a vicious acceleration before leading Keukeleire out for the sprint and the win ahead of Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida).

 

“It was a hard stage today,” said Keukeleire. “There were a few teams trying to control the race but it was a good course for me, I’m pretty fast on that kind of finish.

 

“I have to thank the whole team but especially Jack (Haig). His attack on the final climb got rid of a lot of the faster guys and then he committed fully to set me up perfectly for the finish.

 

“We raced very intelligently today and also with some luck. I am really happy with how we raced as a team, the way we attacked in the final and I'm thankful that I had the strength to finish it off.

 

"The team wanted to monitor the progress of the stage, and we started to ride tactically in the end. I thank the team, especially Jack Haig. He attacked on the last climb in Koper. He was followed by Ulissi. I knew I could not wait and I closed the gap. Jack pulled in the sprint sprint in which I was the best

 

"We were lucky to have a better team to control the race. For the last categorized climb it was difficult, and then it was hard in the final lap. The stage was difficult. It pleases me because I know I am fast in the sprints, but I'm not the fastest . If the best sprinters are dropped, it is much easier. And today they were left behind.”

 

Sport director Matt Wilson was pleased with the result and full team's performance.

 

“A really great performance from the team today,” said Wilson. “The course was tougher than we anticipated and in the end that worked out well for us.

 

“Jack buried himself in the finale after a superb attack on the last climb and Jens (Keukeleire) was very strong in the sprint to the line. It couldn’t have gone any better for a five-man team today.

 

“We came here with the objective of winning stages. We have achieved that on the first day and also taken the race lead. There is no pressure on us but we are happy with our position and will do everything we can to defend the leader's jersey.”

 

Diego Ulissi close to victory in comeback race in Slovenia

Diego Ulissi obtained 2nd place in his first race after the end of the Giro d'Italia.

LAMPRE-MERIDA took control in the finale and the work in the front of the peloton by Zurlo and Mohoric created the selection of the bunch so that no more than 40 riders were left after the final climb.

At the second passage of the Markovec ascent, Ulissi followed an attack from Haig and then sprinted to second.  The team also had Modolo, 6th, and Pibernik in the chase group.

"It was a demanding first race after a break,” Ulissi explained. “The course, especially the final circuit, was tough and it was a good test for my legs.

”I had good feelings but I'm aware of the fact that I can improve my condition: the final part of the stage confirms that.

”When Haig attacked on the hill, I understood that it was the key moment, so I tried to bridge the gap and I managed to catch him, together with Keukeleire and Thwaites. 

“In the last kilometer there was a fast dowhill to the short final straight, there was no time to find the best position. I was just behind Haig who was leading our group and then moved off 250m from the finish, leaving me in the front position. I could only try to do a long sprint, but Keukeleire overtook me".

 

Excellent comeback for Scott Thwaites in Slovenia

Due to the hilly course, BORA – ARGON 18 decided to support its Classics specialist Scott Thwaites. The young British rider had a strong Classics season earlier in the year and is building up again after a long training period.

 

In the last 20km, Andreas Schillinger set a hard pace on the front of the peloton to put the sprinters under some pressure. This tactic worked out well for BORA – ARGON 18 and it was a reduced first group that started to fight for the stage win in the last 1000m. Scott Thwaites finished in 3rd place.

 

“I felt good the whole day and was climbing well. The stage was very nervous with a big fight for position in the last 20k. Schilli rode hard on the first lap of the finishing circuits to split the peloton. On the final climb, there was an attackwhich  I could follow, but I saw some riders coming across and decided not to push. In the sprint I just didn’t have the pace to match the other guys. I think I am missing a little bit of race speed after a long period without races but I am happy with the podium finish,” said Scott Thwaites

 

“The guys delivered a strong performance today. We knew this course would suit Scott. Schilli rode really well in the finale to force a split in the peloton. I am happy with the result today. And it was also important that our GC guys did not lose any time,” said André Schulze, sports director.

 

Kristian Sbaragli takes over from Cavendish in tough Slovenian opener

Many thought the 177km stage from Ljubljana to Koper would be one for the sprinters and the stage began like most sprint stages do. 5 riders got away early on and then Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka riders along with Team Sky, controlled the gap for the majority of the stage.

 

With 20km to go Androni and Vini Fantini took advantage of the final category 3 climb to force the pace and subsequently split the peloton into pieces. Over the top, the group wasn’t much more than 50 riders large and the African Team had Omar Fraile and Kristian Sbaragli in the front split.

 

A group of 5 riders got a small gap on another small group of about 8 riders. Fraile and Sbargli were both part of this chasing group. Sbaragli tried to get across to the leaders on his own as they were running out of road, and quickly. It wasn’t to be for the Italian and the front group arrived at the finish just a couple of meters ahead of the Fraile and Sbaragli group. In the end Fraile took 6th on the line while Sbaragli was 8th on the stage.

 

Omar Fraile said:

“It was a much harder stage than we thought with a very hard finish because of the 2 local laps that had a hard climb. In the final I stayed to help Kristian but the group was so small and I went with the wheels in the end. My sensations are good at the moment so I look forward to tomorrow’s tough stage.”

 

Sports director Alex Sans Vega added:

“We had two options today depending on how the race unfolded. Obviously we had Cav as one option for a big sprint and then Kristian if it was harder with a smaller group. We controlled the race all day with Sky right up to 20km to go when Androni and Vini Fantini went really deep on the climb. Cavendish was distanced and we only had Omar and Kristian in the front group now. With only 2 guys it was difficult to control and guys like Ulissi attacked really hard. Kristian tried to close them down in the last kilometers as they only had a few meters. It was risky, it was a good try but he didn’t succeed so those front guys made it to the final even though they all finished with the same time. It was a tactical final with some game playing, we could have been up there for the win but we had two guys in the top 10 which is not bad. It also showed the good shape of Kristian and that Omar’s is also coming up.”

 

Rein Taaramae on the attack in Slovenian opener

Team KATUSHA was very active in the final of the stage 1 (Ljubljana – Koper, 175,7 km) with Pavel Kochetkov and Rein Taaramäe attacking on the last uphills. In the end, both where caught by the main group, which played the stage victory in a sprint.

 

Pavel Kochetkov and Rein Taaramäe both finished in the main pack (13th and 29th positions, respectively).

 

Tinkoff captain drops out of GC contention on first day in Slovenia

One of the Tinkoff riders who may have contested the finish today was Adam Blythe, who was unfortunately taken sick before the start. Starting with only six riders, the challenging and undulating course was made all the more difficult. With the sprinters pushing the pace high as well, crashes made racing even harder, with a big crash splitting the peloton.

 

From the finish, Sport Director, Tristan Hoffman, looked back on a hard and unlucky day for the team.

 

“Today wasn't the best day for the team - it was a pretty tough stage and on the local laps at the end the race split up with around 30 guys left in front, with Brutt the only one able to hang on for us.”

 

While crashes were frequent, the team came out of the stage unscathed, said Hoffman.

 

“Michael Gogl crashed and didn't make it back to the front after this, which was a shame as he was feeling good today after the Dauphiné. However, he had no real problems so he'll be ok to carry on tomorrow.”

 

The bad luck continued however, with the team’s leader Pawel Poljanski being dropped, and a late puncture for Erik Baška delaying him to the finish, as Hoffman explained.

 

“Pawel was dropped on the local laps - he just didn't have the legs to follow the front group over the climb. Then we had Erik Baška suffer a flat tyre at a bad moment and he couldn't get back to the front. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day with a bit more luck.”

 

Slovenian opener too hard for Elia Viviani and Sky

Gianni Moscon was Team Sky's highest finisher after a wild start to the Tour of Slovenia.

 

A bunch sprint was expected at the end of stage one but attacks started firing 25 kilometres from the finish, before a nasty climb on the finishing circuit saw the race blown apart.

 

Moscon was distanced from an elite front group in Koper and came home 30 seconds down on stage winner Jens Keukeleire (Orica-GreenEdge).

 

Sport Director Dario Cioni told TeamSky.com that the plan had been to set Elia Viviani up for the win, but the pace went through the roof in the closing stages.

 

He said: "The last 25km was really hard. We were conscious this might be the case, but with Elia here we wanted to give it a try and see if he could finish it off in a sprint.

 

"We knew that if someone took it on though and made the race hard Elia wouldn't make it. He did well though, because he only got dropped late on, but the pace was so high in the last 30km and there was a few crashes too, which just added to the problems."

 

Once it became clear that Viviani wasn't going to make it the team's focus switched to Moscon and Lars Petter Nordhaug.

 

Cioni added: "It quickly became clear at the end that it wasn't going to be a bunch finish. By then we'd already committed to that, but we switched to help Gianni and Lars, who we knew would have more of a possibility. Gianni did ok but he wasn't on his best day and finished in the chasing group.

 

"His main goals are tomorrow and the day after, but we must remember he is a young guy in his first season as professional. He is still learning and this doesn't kill his GC ambitions."