The 184.7 km queen stage from Kranj to Kranjska Gora — climbing Dražgoše, Predel and the mighty Vršič before a technical descent to the line — was always going to end the sprint-led phase of the race and decide the general classification. A strong break formed early, with Jon Agirre and Fausto Masnada the key figures; Masnada, just 26 seconds down on leader Pithie at the start, briefly became virtual leader once the gap stretched to several minutes.

Red Bull could not let that drift, and their chase intensified after Predel, with green-jersey Pithie himself taking turns on the front before sacrificing himself for his climbers. On Vršič, Lipowitz and Pellizzari made the decisive move, bridging to and dropping the remnants of the break while distancing Omrzel and the rest of the GC group. Pellizzari was then dropped by his teammate before the summit, Lipowitz cresting the highest point of this year's race 30 seconds clear, with Omrzel 1:40 down.

The technical descent into Kranjska Gora was not finished business: Pellizzari used his descending to rejoin Lipowitz in the final kilometres, and the Red Bull pair entered the finish with more than a minute in hand. They had time to celebrate together, crossing the line hand in hand — Lipowitz first for his maiden 2026 win, Pellizzari second, Omrzel taking third and limiting his losses with local knowledge of the descent. The result handed Lipowitz the overall lead two weeks before the Tour de France.

Florian Lipowitz moved into the overall lead after the queen stage, with teammate Giulio Pellizzari second at just four seconds (bonus seconds separating the pair after they finished together). Jakob Omrzel of Bahrain Victorious is a clear third at 1:32, also taking the white jersey as best young rider. Behind the top three the gaps open up sharply — Alessandro Fancellu (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) and Samuel Fernández García (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) head the rest at around 2:19, with Sebastian Berwick (Caja Rural) at 2:21. With only the hilly stage 5 to Novo mesto remaining, Red Bull control the race and Lipowitz is firmly favoured to seal the overall.