"Luckily I was able to brake in time" - Jesús David Peña takes Tour of Slovenia stage win after watching teammate Zana crash scarily

Jesús David Peña took the first win of his professional career on stage 4 of the 2023 Tour of Slovenia, just moments after seeing his teammate spectacularly rule himself out of contention for victory.

After everything that has happened over the last few days, seeing Filippo Zana summersault off-road on a pacey descent at the Tour of Slovenia was an incredibly scary moment. “I thought I had to stop but the team told me to go for the stage win," recalls Pena in his post-stage interview. On the exact corner that Zana went off-road, the 23-year-old Colombian had done the same earlier in the day. 

"Filippo eventually fell in the same corner where I crashed a lap earlier, but luckily I was able to brake in time now," Pena explains. "On the penultimate climb of the Kolovrat I crashed on the descent and from then on I could only use my inner chainring. I tried to drive it as fast as possible."

Despite the rollercoaster day, this is a big win for the Team Jayco AlUla prospect. “I am very happy with this victory, my first in Europe," he says. "It's been a tough season so far with injuries, but today I had good legs and the team gave me the chance to go for the stage win."