A star studded Red Bull team set to dominate? - 2026 Tour of Slovenia preview

In 2025, the general classification was won by Uno-X Mobility's Anders Halland Johannessen by 14 seconds over UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Felix Großschartner and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) in third. 

The race was decided on the queen stage with the summit finish on stage 4, with Halland Johannessen the best of the general classification riders on the stage, which gave him the advantage needed to secure the overall lead.

In 2024, Giovanni Aleotti (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won the overall classification; Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla) in 2023, a Tadej Pogacar double in 2022 and 2021, with no edition in 2020 due to COVID.

The 2026 Tour of Slovenia begins with a 141.3-kilometre stage from Velenje to Rogaška Slatina and should be a day for the fast men in the race, although there are a few small hills for the peloton to deal with, which in turn, could produce a spicy ending to the stage. 

Stage 2 follows a similar stage design, but has more length with a 181.8-kilometre stage from Radlje ob Dravi - Ormož, which features a few unclassified crests in proximity to the finish line.

Stage 3 is where the Tour of Slovenia gets tough with two mountain ascents in the 133.5-kilometre stage from Maribor to Celje. First up for the peloton to tackle is the Planina na Pohorju, which is 7.9 kilometres at 6.4%, cresting with 85 kilometres to go. 

The second ascent is the Celljska Koca, coming in at 6.2% for 7.9 kilometres and summiting with 24.5 kilometres to go, meaning some fast men could be able to latch back on.

Stage 4 is the queen stage of the 2026 edition. The 184.7 kilometres from Kranj to Kranjska Gora features over 3700 metres of elevation gain, with the general classification likely to be decided on the Prelaz Vrisic, which is 12.7 kilometres with an average gradient of 7.7%. 

It features numerous sections of gradients in the 10% range, cresting with 15 kilometres to go and a descent all the way to the finish. Before that, the riders will have to tackle two climbs before the GC showdown climb.

Stage 5 is a 159-kilometre stage from Litija to Novo mesto and features 5 classified climbs on the day, potentially teeing up an entertaining stage with the potential for the general classification still yet to be decided. The climbs themselves are all within the 6% mark apart from a kicker located just 9 kilometres from the finish, which is 9.9% for 1.6 kilometres.

Third at the 2025 Tour de France, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) arrives in the race primed up specifically for the Tour de France and will be aiming to build up confidence for another Tour podium come July through victory in Slovenia. 

With the nature of stage 4, it is hard to look past Lipowitz for the overall victory. We can expect to see Lipowitz really put in an effort on the final climb of the stage, and with the team German squad are bringing to the table, the Germans should rocket up.

Lipowitz will be supported by Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who is fresh off the Giro d'Italia, where Pellizzari's general classification efforts were derailed by injury. It's likely that if anything goes wrong with Lipowitz, then Pellizzari will be the backup option.

Other riders to watch regarding the general classification include: Bryon Munton (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling), Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) and Kamiel Bonneu (Solution Tech NIPPO Rali)

There are a handful of fast men in the race, including Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Enrico Zanoncello (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) and Ben Oliver (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling), amongst others.