Heading towards Novo Mesto, the 2024 Tour of Slovenia came to an end this Sunday with a fifth and final eventful stage. The two climbs on the day’s program were enough to create some action, and Ben Healy eventually took the victory. Clément Davy, after entering the morning breakaway, also followed the Irishman for some time before being caught ten kilometres from the finish. Brieuc Rolland finished together with the other favorites and gained three positions in the final general classification (19th).
In the aftermath of the queen stage, the Tour of Slovenia was set to conclude on Sunday with a fifth stage that was mainly flat. It still included two hills in the last fifty kilometres, and some were planning to take advantage of that. Less than ten kilometers from the finish, a steep climb of 1500 metres averaging 10% even stood on the riders’ route. The bunch sprint was surely ruled out, and the Groupama-FDJ cycling team decided to go for the day’s breakaway. After ten kilometers, Clément Davy tried for the first time, with Alexander Kristoff in particular, but it was only after around forty kilometres that the right move occurred. The Frenchman was there again, as were Alessandro De Marchi, Martin Marcellusi, Vegard Stake Laengen and some ten other riders. “The goal was to be represented in the breakaway with Clément, but it was a very hard breakaway to be in,” said William Green. “So it was a really good effort by him. The idea was for him to support the likes of Enzo and Brieuc later in the race, when they would attack on the climbs towards the finish.”
“It was really nice to see Brieuc improve”, William Green
The peloton did not really ease off behind the day’s fugitives, and constantly remained at two minutes or so. The day’s first climb then came at Veliki Ban (5 km at 5.6%), and it didn’t take long for things to get serious. “It went full gas on the first climb with the likes of Healy and Narvaez,” explained William. “The breakaway split apart, Clément found himself in a chase group with Ben Healy, and Brieuc was in a reduced peloton.” Over the thirty kilometres separating the two final climbs, the Frenchman remained in-between while the riders crossed the finish line in Nove Mesto for the first time. Shortly after, the final, steep climb was tackled, Healy was joined at the front by a few competitors who came out of the pack while Brieuc held on to a second group. The Irish champion was still rewarded for his efforts thanks to a late attack, Giovanni Aleotti secured the overall victory and Brieuc Rolland crossed the line in seventeenth position within a very reduced peloton six seconds behind the winner.
After this final stage, the young Frenchman grabbed three places overall and finished the Tour of Slovenia in the top-20 (19th). “It was really nice to see Brieuc improve the last three days,” added William. “We gave him more support yesterday, and today he had the confidence to position himself in the group. His performances over the last two days show his potential”. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the legs I hoped for,” said Brieuc. “I felt good, without feeling great, but I thank the team who gave me two great opportunities. Yesterday, they did a great job to position me all day and then I did the best climb possible with the legs I had. It was a great experience for me, even if the legs were not great, to see where I stood compared to the other riders. The team also supported me all day today to put me in the best position to achieve a good result. In the end, I found myself in the group that fought for second place. I am satisfied. I fought with what the capacities I had, I gave everything for myself and for the team in order to thank them. I’m still very happy, I gained experience, I learned quite a bit, and it will definitely help me in the future. It’s definitely been a positive week”.
William Green shared a similar assessment: “Generally speaking, we take a lot of positive from the week. The young riders gained some experience, and after the unfortunate withdrawal of Paul, we managed to adapt. There was very good teamwork over the last three days. It was nice to see the cooperation and motivation, also to take it to the next races.”
