Results Tour of Slovenia 2026 Stage 2 - Dusan Rajovic takes big win as crash causes race to be neutralised

Dusan Rajovic took a strong victory on Thursday's second stage of the Tour of Slovenia. The Solution Tech NIPPO Rali rider bested race leader Laurence Pithie in a reduced bunch sprint on a stage marred by a crash that forced the race to be stopped for some time.

Stage two took riders from Radje ob Dravi to Ormoz in a test that proved more difficult than the profile suggests. Despite seemingly flat, riders still took on close to 2000 meters of climbing with the final quarter of the stage serving up plenty of short hills.

Laurence Pithie took victory on the opening stage as Red Bull - BORA Hansgrohe got their race off to a flying start. The German team have Florian Lipwoitz as their main general classification goal, but captured a brilliant reduced group sprint triumph.

It proved a straightforward day for break formation as five riders established the day's move early in the stage. Slovenians Gal Oblak, Marcel Skok and Mihael Stajnar were joined by Hungarian rider Zsombor Palumby and Polish rider Kacper Majewski as they pulled out a lead on the peloton.

The bunch seemed content with the move and it gained almost three minutes of an advantage. With around 75 kilometers to go, the leaders boasted a gap of around 2:30. In the breakaway, the only action came in the form of Oblak taking the day's two intermediate sprint points and ten in the classification - but ultimately still far behind Pithie.

The break were quickly reeled in during the subsequent hills, and caught 40 kilometers to go as Red Bull showed their strength, including recent Giro d'Italia hopeful Giulio Pellizzari prominent at the front.

Unfortunately, the race was neutralized with about 29 kilometers remaining after a crash. Organisers made the call due to the need for enough ambulances with the race. The race was resumed and Red bull led the peloton, which had around 50 riders remaining.

Red Bull and Modern Adventure Factor Pro Racing were among the stronger teams at the front as the bunch prepared for a short uphill to the finish line. Ben Oliver, who took a big win at the Tour de Wallonie earlier this month, launched the sprint.

However, Rajovic proved the strongest to the line, besting Laurence Pithie in second and Nikiforus Arvanitou in third place. Pithie's result ensures he remains in the leader's jersey thanks to his team's hard work.