After the start in Tvrdošín, the Tour of Slovakia peloton faced 195 kilometres of hilly terrain along the Polish border and later the Czech border. The day featured two intermediate sprints and five classified climbs, followed by a finish in Dohňany, just 24 kilometres after the summit of the Kohútka climb. An exciting finale with numerous possible scenarios was therefore expected.
Unfortunately, the battle to form the breakaway was marred by a crash that forced Florian Hochuli (Storck) to abandon the race. The attacks continued until a nine-man group finally managed to get away. Carl Kagevi (Lucky Sport) was not going to miss the opportunity to collect more mountains points. The wearer of the polka-dot jersey was joined in the breakaway by his teammate Simen Evertsen-Hegreberg, along with Kacper Maciejuk (Voster), Martin Voltr (ATT), Michael Kukrle (Kasper), Dávid Kaško (Dukla BB), Robin Kull (Storck), Patryk Dabski (Mazowsze) and Nejc Peterlin (KK Novo Mesto).
It was pleasing to see a Slovak rider make it into the day’s breakaway for the first time. Dávid Kaško was also active and collected points at the intermediate competitions. Polka-dot jersey holder Kagevi claimed the most mountains points—21 in total. His teammate Evertsen-Hegreberg closely followed him, collecting second places and moving into third position in the mountains classification behind Fetter. Kaško earned five points in total from three third-place finishes behind the pair and moved into the top ten of the mountains classification.
The two intermediate sprints produced two different winners. Slovenia’s Peterlin won the first in Čadca, with Kaško finishing fourth. In Turzovka, the Czech rider Voltr collected six points for first place, while Kaško earned two points and a one-second time bonus for finishing third. The Slovak therefore scored points at every intermediate competition he contested from the breakaway. However, the Dukla rider could not maintain the pace on the penultimate climb, Bumbálka, where he was caught by the peloton.
The rest of the breakaway did not remain ahead of the bunch for much longer, as the move was finally neutralised on the last climb, Kohútka. The Lotto Intermarché riders set a fierce pace to prepare an attack by their leader, Lennert van Eetvelt. Only the young Soudal rider Henrique Bravo managed to stay with the Belgian, while Maxime Decomble (Groupama) and Jamie Meehan (Cofidis) formed a chasing duo behind them. An excellent Richard Riška (Hrinkow) reached the summit in fifth place, while Samuel Novák (Tirol) crossed it in seventh.
The two pairs of professional riders chased one another throughout the descent and along the flat section that followed. With four kilometres remaining, Decomble’s time-trialling strength eventually proved decisive as he brought the groups together. Everything pointed towards a sprint for victory among the strong quartet, but another group containing the Slovak riders came charging back from behind inside the final kilometre. In the end, however, Van Eetvelt, the architect of the late attack, prevailed in a chaotic finish. Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) was the fastest from the peloton, while Valentin Hofer (Bahrain Victorious Development) finished third.
Tenth-placed Samuel Novák also found enough energy for the sprint. Following today’s performance, the best-placed Slovak moves up to seventh in the general classification! Richard Riška also reached the finish without losing any time, strengthening his hold on second place among the Slovak riders, as the rest of his compatriots conceded more substantial time gaps.
The yellow jersey also changed hands, as overnight leader Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) finished in a group with Tomáš Sivok (Voster) and Martin Jurík (Kolesarski Klub Novo Mesto), 1:49 behind. Lennert van Eetvelt became the new overall leader, ahead of Thomas and Hofer, who completed the day’s podium. The standings have now become considerably more spread out, with only 28 riders remaining within ten seconds of the lead.
The green (Magnier) and polka-dot (Kagevi) jerseys did not change hands, with both riders holding significant advantages over their rivals. Today’s third-place finisher, Valentin Hofer, moved into the white jersey. Soudal Quick-Step remains the best team. On Saturday, the peloton will face a flat stage from Beluša to Galanta. At 197 kilometres, it will be the longest stage of this year’s race.
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