Results Tour of Slovenia 2026 Stage 5 - Florian Lipowitz turns final-day defence into attack to seal stage win, GC and Red Bull domination
Cycling
Florian Lipowitz completed Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe’s Tour of Slovenia domination in the strongest possible way, attacking on the final climb of the race before soloing to stage 5 victory and sealing the overall title in Novo mesto.
The German had taken control of the race on the queen stage, where he and Giulio Pellizzari crossed the line hand in hand in Kranjska Gora after Red Bull dominated Vrsic.
One day later, Lipowitz did not settle for a controlled defence. He attacked on Trska Gora, took the final mountain points on offer, and rode clear to complete a second stage win and the GC.
It capped a commanding closing weekend for Lipowitz, who arrived in Slovenia still searching for his first victory in almost two years and now leaves with two stage wins, the overall title and a clear pre-Tour de France boost.
Masnada gives Red Bull one last problem
The final stage from Litija to Novo mesto was not supposed to rival the queen stage for GC drama, but Fausto Masnada made sure Red Bull had work to do before Lipowitz could finish the race off.
Masnada began the day 3:43 behind Lipowitz and quickly became the danger man in the break. The Italian joined David Louis Sutton and Veljko Stojnic in the key move, collecting mountain points, sprint points and bonus seconds as the advantage rose above five minutes.
That briefly moved Masnada into the virtual race lead and forced Red Bull to chase on a day they would have wanted to keep under control. Masnada took maximum points on the category-two climb of Vace, won the intermediate sprint in Zagorje ob Savi, then led over the category-three climb of Bogensperk.
His GC threat faded once the peloton lifted the pace, but Masnada kept the final stage alive through the mountains classification. He won the intermediate sprint in Trebnje, then led over Grmada and Trebelno to move ahead in the blue jersey battle. Lipowitz responded from the bunch for the final point on Trebelno, but still trailed Masnada in that contest at that stage of the race.
Lipowitz and Pellizzari had a one-two finish on stage 4
Lipowitz attacks to finish the race himself
Masnada’s stage threat ended inside the final 30km. Sutton had already been caught, and Red Bull then moved back to the front with Jan Tratnik driving the chase. The Slovenian’s work cut Masnada’s advantage quickly before the Italian was brought back with 27km remaining.
That left the race together before the closing circuit in Novo mesto, but Lipowitz still had one final acceleration left. On Trska Gora, the last climb of the race, he attacked, took the remaining mountain points and rode clear.
Jakob Omrzel did not follow the move, while Masnada tried to stay in the fight for the blue jersey but could not match Lipowitz’s pace. Behind, a chase group formed with Omrzel, Pellizzari, Sebastian Berwick, Joel Nicolau, Mats Wentzel and Alessandro Fancellu, but Lipowitz continued to open the gap.
With 5km remaining, he had around 15 seconds in hand. By 2km to go, the advantage was still growing, and the final stage had changed from a controlled defence into one more show of strength from the race leader.
Lipowitz reached Novo mesto alone to win the stage and the Tour of Slovenia overall, confirming Red Bull’s control of the race from Laurence Pithie’s early victories through to their German leader’s GC triumph.
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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