Results Tour of Slovenia 2026 Stage 4 - Florian Lipowitz ends winless run with Tour de France statement as he and Giulio Pellizzari cross line hand in hand

Florian Lipowitz delivered his first win of 2026 in emphatic style on the queen stage of the Tour of Slovenia, attacking clear on Vrsic before Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe celebrated a dominant one-two finish in Kranjska Gora.

The German finished on the podium of the 2025 Tour de France behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, but had still been waiting for his first victory of the new season.

That wait ended just two weeks before the Tour returns, with Lipowitz and Giulio Pellizzari crossing the line hand in hand after Red Bull took complete control of the hardest stage of the week.

Jakob Omrzel finished third for Bahrain Victorious, around a minute down, after limiting his losses on the climb and descent. But the day belonged to Red Bull, who used Laurence Pithie’s green jersey in service of their climbers before Lipowitz and Pellizzari tore the race open on the final ascent.

Pithie had started stage 4 as race leader after winning two of the opening three stages, but the 184.7km route from Kranj to Kranjska Gora was always likely to end the sprint-led phase of the race. Predel and Vrsic gave the general classification riders the terrain they needed, with the finish coming after a technical descent into Kranjska Gora.

A strong break shaped the stage long before the final climb. Jon Agirre Egana and Fausto Masnada became the key figures in the move, with Agirre collecting points over Drazgose, through the intermediate sprints and again on Predel. Masnada’s presence gave the break a potential threat. The Italian had started the day only 26 seconds behind Pithie, making him virtual leader once the break built a gap of several minutes.

Red Bull could not allow that situation to drift into the decisive phase. Their chase became more serious after Predel, and Pithie himself took a turn on the front before Vrsic. After three days in which he had been the race’s dominant finisher, the New Zealander became a helper as Red Bull shifted the stage fully towards Lipowitz and Pellizzari. By the time the road tilted towards Vrsic, the break had been reduced. Agirre and Masnada carried the move furthest, but Red Bull were already closing in.

Lipowitz and Pellizzari made the decisive move on Vrsic. The Red Bull pair bridged across to Agirre and Masnada, distancing Omrzel and the rest of the GC group as the gradient began to bite.

Omrzel continued at his own pace behind, initially with Hugo de la Calle and Samuel Fernandez Garcia, but the Red Bull pair quickly moved clear. Agirre and Masnada could not hold them once the queen stage became a pure climbing contest.

Pellizzari was then distanced by his team-mate before the summit, leaving Lipowitz alone at the front of the race. The German crossed the highest point of this year’s Tour of Slovenia first, 30 seconds ahead of Pellizzari, with Omrzel 1:40 down.

The stage was not finished there. The descent into Kranjska Gora was technical and dangerous, and Pellizzari used it to regain contact with Lipowitz before the final kilometres. Omrzel also used his knowledge of the descent to reduce the damage, but the Red Bull pair still entered the finish with more than a minute in hand.

Lipowitz and Pellizzari had time to celebrate together, crossing the line hand in hand after a stage that Red Bull had controlled from the breakaway chase to the final climb. For Lipowitz, the victory ended his wait for a 2026 win and landed as a clear sign of form before the Tour de France.