Lipowitz leads dominant Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe 1-2 in Slovenia

Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) won stage 4 of the Tour of Slovenia 2026, crossing the line in Kranjska Gora hand-in-hand with his teammate Giulio Pellizzari. Lipowitz was gifted the victory, capping a dominant performance by the duo on the race's queen stage.

The pair finished 1 minute and 26 seconds ahead of a lone chasing Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious), who secured the final podium spot. Hugo de la Calle (Burgos Burpellet BH) finished fourth, 1:58 behind the winners.

The result sees Lipowitz take the leader's jersey from his teammate Laurence Pithie. Pellizzari moves into second place overall, giving Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe a commanding position in the general classification.

The 147 km mountain stage was blown apart on the final climb, with the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe pairing of Lipowitz and Pellizzari proving to be in a class of their own. They crested the summit together and collaborated perfectly on the technical descent towards the finish.

Behind them, Slovenian national champion Jakob Omrzel mounted a committed solo chase. His aggressive descending was not enough to close the gap, which held at over a minute as the leaders hit the flatter roads into Kranjska Gora.

With their victory assured, the two leaders continued to work together to the flamme rouge. In the final hundred metres, they sat up, linked hands, and coasted across the line to celebrate a dominant team performance, with Lipowitz officially awarded the stage win.

• Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe executed a perfect team strategy. Having two riders at the front neutralised any chase and allowed them to control the finale, and gifting the stage to Lipowitz signals the team's GC hierarchy.
• With Lipowitz and Pellizzari now first and second on GC with a significant buffer, the race is firmly in the team's control. It would take a major incident for them to lose the leader's jersey.
• Jakob Omrzel's third place was a strong ride that highlighted his isolation. Without teammates, he was left in a futile solo chase against a coordinated duo, though a podium on the queen stage in his national champion's jersey is a significant result.
• The large time gaps have effectively removed all other teams from GC contention. Caja Rural-Seguros RGA placed three riders in the top ten but were all more than two minutes down, underscoring the dominance of the winning pair.