Red Bull assert dominance in Slovenia as Pithie eases to stage win
Laurence Pithie won stage 1 of the 2026 Tour of Slovenia from a reduced bunch sprint. The New Zealander beat Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Arne Marit to the line in Rogaška Slatina.
The race was animated by a four-man move containing Tomáš Přidal (Team United Shipping), Diego Urriate (Equipo Kern Pharma), Sam Brand (Novo Nordisk) and Axel van der Tuuk (Euskaltel - Euskadi), and the group pushed on all the way until 28km to go.
Urriate was the last man standing from the break of the day after Red-Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had splintered the peloton through Jan Tratnik, leaving around 30 riders in contention.
With 20km to go, Red Bull still dictated the proceedings and they were setting up the situation perfectly for a sprint finish for either of their fast men, Arne Marit or Laurence Pithie, who were among the few fast men still in the peloton.
The riders remaining in the peloton were a contrasting mix from GC contenders to puncheurs. Heading into the finale, Red Bull finally received help driving the peloton from Caja Rural, though that was brief.
Inside the final 10km, it had looked like that Red Bull were in fact riding for Marit and positioned the Belgian well to give him the best opportunity to score victory, but with 2km to go, they switched around, with Pithie now clearly the figurehead.
It was textbook teamwork by Red Bull, with Marit delivering the Pithie, who took victory with a great leadout as the Kiwi continues his recent winning form.
The Tour of Slovenia continues on Thursday with another opportunity for the fast men.
Result 2026 Tour of Slovenia - Stage 1
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