Results Tour of Slovenia 2026 Stage 3 - Laurence Pithie survives Celjska koca test before sprinting to second win in thrilling finale
Cycling
Laurence Pithie turned the first real climbing test of the 2026 Tour of Slovenia into another Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe victory, sprinting to his second stage win in three days after surviving Celjska koca on stage 3.
The New Zealander had started the day in green after winning stage 1 and finishing second on stage 2, but the 133.5km route from Maribor to Celje looked like the moment the race could begin to move towards the general classification riders.
Planina na Pohorju and Celjska koca both gave the climbers room to test him before Saturday’s queen stage.
Instead, Pithie made it through the decisive climb in the front group, followed a dangerous move on the descent, then finished off Red Bull’s work in the reduced sprint. Stefano Oldani took second for Caja Rural - Seguros RGA, with Ivan Cobo third for Equipo Kern Pharma and Edoardo Zambanini fourth for Bahrain Victorious.
Pithie refuses to crack on Celjska koca
The early break of Erik Fetter, Paul Wright and Marcel Gladek gave the stage its opening shape, with Wright taking maximum points over Planina na Pohorju. Their move was never allowed enough room to seriously threaten the stage once Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe took control of the peloton.
By the foot of Celjska koca, the gap had fallen sharply. Wright briefly pressed on alone, but he was caught as Jan Tratnik drove the pace for Red Bull on the final classified climb.
Tratnik’s work thinned the bunch, yet Pithie remained in position alongside the GC riders. Jakob Omrzel also stayed prominent for Bahrain Victorious, while Florian Lipowitz moved through the climb without needing to force a major attack.
Samuel Fernandez Garcia led over Celjska koca for Caja Rural - Seguros RGA, ahead of Lipowitz and Jon Agirre Egana, but the climb did not create the decisive split many had expected. A sizeable group remained in contention over the top before the race dropped back towards Celje.
Red Bull finish the job after late Cattaneo attack
The stage briefly threatened to change shape on the descent when Unai Iribar Jauregi attacked for Equipo Kern Pharma. Pithie responded to the move, turning a day that had been expected to expose him into one where he was again active at the front of the race.
Iribar’s move faded before the final 15km, and the reduced peloton came back together for the run into Celje. Around 40 riders remained in the front group, with Tratnik still setting the tone for Red Bull as the finish approached.
Red Bull then tried one final disruption inside the last kilometre. Mattia Cattaneo accelerated and opened a small gap, but he was caught almost immediately as the sprint wound up behind him.
Pithie still had enough left to finish the job. After surviving the climbs and the descent, he delivered again in Celje, beating Oldani and Cobo to strengthen his grip on the race before the queen stage.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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