PREVIEW | Tour of Slovenia 2024 - Giro d'Italia and Tour de France contenders meet on difficult race

From June 12th to 16th, the peloton will embark on the Tour of Slovenia. In recent years, this race has surged in popularity thanks to the emergence of new stars from the country. For some riders, it also serves as a crucial preparation event leading up to the Tour de France. Here's a preview of the upcoming race.

The first stage of the race takes place from Muirska Sobota to Ormoz and is the longest day of the race. It is not the hardest day of the race, however the finale should be fit for a bunch sprint to take place.

Stage 2 will be a tricky day. In the hills of Slovenia the peloton will tackle a 7.6-kilometer climb at 6.3% which can open things up, but the last kilometers of the day features a lot of small ascents where an attack can take place at any moment.

Stage 3 ends in Nova Gorica after 160 kilometers and is another open day of racing. It features a few small climbs, but these ones are harder and can involve the GC contenders. This can open up the fight for the overall classification, the day before the queen stage.

The queen, but also shortest stage of the race. The summit finish in Krvacek is 11.7 kilometers at 7.7% and will create very big differences. It is without a doubt the most important stage of the race and where the pure climbers can make the difference.

The final stage of the race could be very dangerous, and the race has the potential to be turned on it's head here. The final day ends in Novo Mesto, and has a 1.5-kilometer climb at over 10% close to the finale where dangerous attacks may take place.

Prediction Tour of Slovenia 2024 overall classification:

*** Michael Storer, Giulio Pellizzari
** Filippo Zana, Pello Bilbao, Tobias Johannessen
* Jesús David Peña, Matej Mohoric, Giovanni Aleotti, Ben Healy, Jhonatan Narváez, Diego Ulissi, Domen Novak, Davide Piganzoli, Paul Double, Domenico Pozzovivo, Steff Cras

Pick: Giulio Pellizzari