“Oliveira touched me and that stopped me from sprinting to the line” – Christen explains Oliveira’s Tour of Slovenia penalty

Fabio Christen delivered a dramatic victory on Stage 2 of the 2025 Tour of Slovenia, securing Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team’s tenth win of the season after initial winner Rui Oliveira was relegated for a controversial sprint infringement.

The stage concluded with a tight sprint from a lead group of seven, with Christen originally crossing the line second behind Oliveira. However, following a protest and video review, the UAE Team Emirates rider was penalised for a slight deviation from his line, which the jury ruled impeded Christen in the final metres. As a result, Christen was promoted to stage winner and also took over the race lead.

“I went in the break for the KoM points and I wasn’t even planning on going for the race lead in the Tour of Slovenia at all,” Christen revealed in a team press release. “The goal here was to go for a stage win, and then prepare for my main goal at the Tour de Suisse. The stage win worked and now I will try to see what’s possible—but stage 4 is really hard and I shouldn’t kill myself either.”

Q36.5 had numbers in the decisive move, with Christen crediting the collective effort: “We were with five riders and there weren’t a lot of teams with numbers up there so that’s really good. The plan was to go for the sprint with Nicoló, but then Sjoerd attacked just before the climb and I jumped across. I started my sprint early because I was in the wind. In the final, Oliveira touched me and that stopped me from sprinting to the line.”

Despite the tension around the result, Christen remained focused on the road ahead, “Tomorrow’s final also suits me well. But we must see how the race plays out. Every day has been surprising so far, so let’s see how tomorrow goes.”

Team sports director Alex Sans Vega praised the squad’s adaptability during a chaotic day of racing. “We knew today’s stage well because it was very similar to previous years. There were two options: a sprint stage like yesterday or it goes bananas. It went bananas,” he said with a smile.

“When the race leader Dylan Groenewegen got dropped on the climb, the scenario changed and we decided to race for it. Fabio was there for us, securing bonus seconds and King of the Mountains points. It was impressive teamwork with Calzoni, Bax, Parisini and Camprubí all with Fabio in the final 30 kilometres. Bax and Fabio then decided the race for it.”