Saturday June 29th belonged to the stage ranging from Horná Nitra through iconic hills like Šturec and Donovaly all the way to Liptov region's Ružomberok. The start took place in Partizánske, where hundreds of fans welcomed the race convoy. The stage of the Tour of Slovakia race started here for the first time in history.
The peloton faced 183 challenging kilometres over seven classified hills. The riders who aren't fond of hills, had to work twice as much in order to make it to the finish line in the time limit. Fortunately, once again the race was accompanied with nice summer weather.
The climb up to Veľké Pole came right at the start, laying good ground for making breakaways. Various riders from a number of teams tried it, but Soudal - Quick-Step kept it under control. He only wanted to let a small group go. In the end, it succeeded when four riders got away.
They were Kyrylo Tsarenko from Corratec, Pierre Thierry from Arkéa - B&B Hôtels, Johannes Adamietz from Lotto Dstny and Andrea Garosio from Polti Kometa. Gradually they managed to make up a lead of almost ten minutes, as these were riders who did not threaten the best ones in the overall standings and had a long and difficult route ahead of them.
The first premium was won by Ukrainian rider Tarasenko, who didn't have any mountain points prior to the start of this stage. The Italian Garosio, on the other hand, was active during the speed premiums. He won in Žiar nad Hronom and then in Kremnica. He is a rider who has been active in our races for years, manifesting in colors of multiple different teams.
Tarasenko and Adamietz were duelling in the mountain premiums, while in the peloton it was mainly Soudal directing the action. There was anticipation of bigger selections in the air. They were expected either on Šturc or on the Donovaly. In the end it happened only at Donovaly, when Peter Sagan fell back. The breakaway still had a lead of over five minutes, so there was still little chance of success.
They did, though. Their leading time and quality was enough for them to fight for the triumph in Ružomberok. It was a very tough uphill finish, where Lotta Dstny driver Johannes Adamietz had the most strength and achieved his first professional victory.
"It was very hot today. At the end I tried to play my game and be skilful in the sprint. It worked and I'm very happy to get my first professional win. I also experienced mechanical problems during the stage and I had to work very hard to get back. My rivals probably didn't really want me to come back or they were trying to tire me out because they know I'm strong. I invested all my energy and it was enough to win. It means a lot to me. I've put all the hard training from the last few years to good use," Adamietz said after finishing the race.
The first riders from the broken peloton reached the finish line 17 seconds behind and there was Swiss champion Mauro Schmid of Jayco, who beat Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal by five seconds. This was crucial in the battle for overall triumph as the Dane rider Foldager fell behind. The yellow jersey went to Schmid, who leads over Alaphilippe by just two seconds. The latter still holds the green jersey.
It's going to get very interesting in the last stage. The leaders of the two strongest teams on the start list will be separated by mere two seconds in the mountainous terrain.
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