Groenewegen strikes again! Dutchman takes second stage win of the week in Slovenia, Christen keeps leader’s jersey

The riders faced a 172-kilometer route. A group of five quickly broke away from the peloton, and shortly afterward, Assen-born Danny van der Tuurk joined them. The six riders, including three local riders, gained a five-minute lead over the peloton.

After a stage that was anything but exciting, Spain's Mikel Retegi was the first to lose ground at the front. The Equipo Kern Pharma rider crashed 54 kilometers from the finish. He saw his place in the breakaway slip away while the peloton behind him slowly but surely began to pick up speed.

For Nejc Komac, the peloton closed in too closely with 38 kilometers to go. The Slovenian from Factor Racing accelerated, leaving his four breakaway companions behind. Retegi, for his part, had certainly not given up the fight, as the Spaniard was still dangling between the riders at the front and the peloton. The gap to the riders in front of him was about forty seconds when Komac attacked.

The brave Komac was on a mission on Friday. The breakaway riders were reeled in one by one, but the Factor Racing rider stayed ahead for a long time. At the top of the last climb of the day, which at 4.5 kilometers at 2.5% was anything but difficult, the Slovenian still had a three-quarter minute lead. However, he still had 14 kilometers to go to the finish line.

Remarkably, one of Komac's teammates tried to attack at the front of the peloton. New Zealand national champion Paul Wright gave it a go but was quickly caught. Lidl-Trek increased the pace in the peloton even further, bringing the peloton ever closer to Komac. We saw the Slovenian—understandably—push himself to the limit, which led to some spectacular images.

However, with only 4 kilometers, it was all over for the brave Komac. It was his teammate Wright who attacked at that moment. A few hundred meters further on, it was all over for the New Zealander, after which the sprint trains slowly but surely got on track.

Groenewegen had some trouble finding his lead out in a fairly chaotic sprint. Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Emirates-XRG) took the lead, followed by the Dutchman. For the second time this week, it was a win for the fast sprinter from Jayco AlUla, who ultimately scored a seemingly easy victory ahead of Molano and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious). Fabio Christen (Q36.5) kept his leader's jersey.