Giovanni Aleotti (Bora-Hansgrohe) won stage 3 of the Tour of Slovenia in Nova Gorica after escaping from a select front group on the descent off the final climb of Ravnica.
The Italian pressed clear with 7km remaining and quickly established a sizeable advantage. He managed his lead smartly thereafter, coming home 11 seconds clear of a chasing group that was led across the line by Jhonatan Narvaéz (Ineos Grenadiers). Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) took third place ahead of Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula) and Giulio Pellizzari (VF-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).
The stage was a frantic one, with the peloton whittled down considerably by the first of two ascents of Ravnica. On the final lap, EF Education-EasyPost took up the reins, with Archie Ryan setting a fearsome pace on the climb to Ravnica on behalf of his fellow Irishman Ben Healy.
Dangerman Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) was among those distanced by Ryan’s forcing, and by the time the youngster swung over, only a dozen or so riders remained in contention.
That was the cue for Healy to go on the offensive, with Narvaez the only rider able to follow when the Irish champion launched his acceleration with 13.5km to go. Narvaez was reluctant, however, to come through and swap turns with Healy, and they were joined by a group of ten riders or so, including Zana, Pellizzari, Aleotti, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Domenico Pozzovivo (VF-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) with 2km of the climb remaining.
When Healy kicked again, the evergreen Pozzovivo was the first rider to follow, but they were unable to distance Narvaéz, Aleotti et al before the top of the climb.
After leading over the top, Healy made another attempt on the descent, but he was soon brought to heel. A spirited attempt for Jegat also petered out before Aleotti sensed his opportunity with 7km remaining.
Aleotti’s five previous professional wins had all come on the Sibiu Tour, but it quickly became apparent that he was on the cusp of claiming his first victory away from Romanian roads. After stretching his lead out to 25 seconds on the descent, he looked a likely winner as he approached the final kilometre, despite a late attempt from Pellizzari and Bilbao to bridge across.
Aleotti’s victory puts him into the overall lead with a 12-second advantage over Narvaez, while Jegat lies third at 17 seconds. The race continues with a key summit finish at Krvavec on Saturday.
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