OPENINGThe race opened with three stages suited to fast finishers, and Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe dominated them. Laurence Pithie won stage 1 into Rogaška Slatina from a reduced sprint, ahead of teammate Arne Marit, to take the first leader's jersey. Stage 2 to Ormož — disrupted by a crash that forced a temporary neutralisation — was the one blemish, with Dušan Rajović (Solution Tech NIPPO Rali) edging Pithie, but the New Zealander kept the lead. On the hillier stage 3 to Celje, Pithie survived the Celjska koča climb in the front group and sprinted to his second win, extending his overall lead before the mountains.

UNFOLDSStage 4, the 184.7 km queen stage from Kranj to Kranjska Gora over Dražgoše, Predel and Vršič, was always set to decide the race. Red Bull chased down a dangerous break featuring Fausto Masnada (briefly virtual leader) and Jon Agirre, with Pithie himself sacrificing his green jersey to work for his climbers. On Vršič, Florian Lipowitz and Giulio Pellizzari attacked clear of Omrzel and the GC group; Lipowitz dropped Pellizzari near the summit before the Italian rejoined on the descent, and the pair finished hand in hand for a Red Bull one-two more than a minute clear of Omrzel.

DECIDEDThe queen stage settled the general classification ahead of the finale: Lipowitz took the overall lead with Pellizzari just four seconds back and Omrzel a clear third at 1:32. With only the hilly stage 5 to Novo mesto remaining, Red Bull control the podium and Lipowitz is firmly favoured to seal the win.

FINALEStage 5 (Litija → Novo mesto, June 21) had not yet taken place at the time of writing; the overall result remained to be confirmed.