With the Tour de France rapidly approaching, Team Bahrain Victorious are heading to the 30th edition of the Tour of Slovenia with a varied line-up of six riders and the capacity to challenge for every stage.
Starting on Wednesday with a day full of rolling hills between Celje & Rogaska Slatina, on paper, the first two stages should be for the fast men. The opener is 189 km, and features one solitary category 4 climb, although there is little flat road throughout. There are two cat 4s the following day, as the race passes through the wine region of Jerusalem, but overall it is much flatter, with under 1000 uphill metres in the 163km from Žalec to Ormož.
Franco Pellizotti will be the lead Sports Director at the race and outlines how the team will approach the 5-day race:
“Phil Bauhaus is our sprinter, and there are a couple of stages suited to him. He hasn’t raced for a few weeks, and he will also be looking forward to The Tour. But he is super-motivated and wants to do really well here, as he has done in previous years.
We have the young Nicolò Buratti, also coming back to racing, and he’ll be a great support for Phil on the flat stages, as well as the hillier days.
Dušan Rajović will be another important wheel in the sprints.
And Cameron Scott is here to be the last man for Phil, and he’s used to that kind of role already.
The following day is a very different profile. There’s an early ascent to Rakitna, where the battle for the breakaway should come to life, and the loop around the arrival town of Postojna has plenty of scope for attacks to win the stage, including an uncategorised obstacle inside the last 15k.
The ‘Queen Stage’ comes on day four. The first part offers an excellent opportunity to escape, and the climax is a tough climb to Kolovrat, which we remember from last year’s Giro d’Italia. The riders will have to crest the 1st category mountain twice, so it is expected to be highly selective and decisive in deciding who takes the overall victory.
Our leader is Matej Mohorič, who is looking forward to riding on home roads again:
«It is always nice to race in front of home crowds. I will use the Tour of Slovenia to finalise my preparation for the Tour de France. I think it’s a great race, just hard and long enough to get your legs back to race speed after a long period of training. My goal is to win a stage. I came very close last year in Novo Mesto, so I hope to win this previous stage this year.«
The race ends with just over 140 km from Vrhnika to Novo mesto, including two 3rd category hills. Immediately from the start, the bunch goes up to Zaplana, and 9.5k from the finish, they will find the short but very steep Trška Gora, with gradients over 20%. A technically demanding descent and a quick finale will be the last of the action.
Pellizotti concludes: «The main objective is to be on the podium at the end of the race with our road captain and leader, Matej Mohorič. This race is also an important part of his preparations for the Tour de France, as he tries to arrive there in the best possible condition.
Wout Poels is also returning after a break, and for him, Slovenia is about showing he’s in good shape. He’s very experienced, of course, and he’ll be vital help for Matej out there.
We’ll be looking to win one or two stages with Phil & Matej, our two leaders, and to do well in the GC with Matej. Stage 4 is very hard, so we’ll see how he’s going when the road goes uphill, but that can also be a target for Wout.
It’s a competitive line-up, and we’re aiming for stages and a good result overall
For all the riders, this is the first race after a long break, and because of that, it is important to race as a team.«
