On Friday, peloton had to take on the longest stage in 69. edition of Okolo Slovenska, which had also the hightest elevation. After conservative start of the stage, the race erupted on Popová.
Thomas Gloag (Visma Lease a Bike), one of the favourites for the overall victory, attacked on the slopes of this first categorised climb of the day. He created a one-minute gap over the rest of the peloton, making Jayco - AlUla and Soudal Quick-Step chase him.
After a while, he was joined by Pawel Bernas (Mazowsze), Martin Voltr (ATT Investments) and Rémi Daumas (Groupama-FDJ Development). This group got a gap of 2:45 min. and took most of the intermediate sprints along the way.
Thomas Gloag managed to gain five bonification seconds, which might help him in his fight for the yellow jersey. Martin Voltr on the other hand secured a provisional lead in the KOM classification.
Breakway lost most of their advantage on the slopes of longest categorised climb of the day, Sedlo Prašivá. Peloton eventually caught them already 45 kilometres before the finish line. Last intermediate sprint was won by Paul Magnier, who took three bonification seconds.
In the last hour of the race, we saw one more breakaway. Duo of Rick Ottema (Diftar) and Oscar Nilsson-Julien (Groupama-FDJ Development) managed to get a lead of one minute ahead of the peloton, but ultimately they were no match for well prepared Soudal Quick-Step.
Belgian squad showed yet another masterclass in the streets of Banská Bystrica, and after perfect leadout Paul Magnier managed to win his third stage in the row. He became first rider to do so since Jozef Regec back in 1992.
Once again, second place was all that was left for a local hero Lukáš Kubiš. After all, this stage visited also his home village, Detvianska Huta. Third place was snatched on the line by Matthew Walls (Groupama-FDJ Development) ahead of Milan Menten (Lotto).
After gaining host of bonus seconds, Paul Magnier extended his lead in the general classification to 15 seconds ahead of Kubiš and 33 seconds ahead of most of the favourites. Young Franchman also holds green and white jerseys. Best Slovak rider is still Lukáš Kubiš and Red polka-dot jersey has been claimed today by Martin Voltr.
After his efforts earlier in the stage, Thomas Gloag has moved up to third place in overall classification, 28 seconds down on Magnier. He was also awarded with the prize of the most combative rider of the day.
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