Visconti shines

Manama : Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling team member Giovanni Visconti from Italy finished second overall (15 hours 56 minutes 30 seconds in general classification after the fourth and last stage of 158.2 kms of the Tour of Slovenia from Rogaška Slatina to Novo Mesto in Dolenjska region, where they did five laps around the picturesque city.

The race winner was Poland’s Rafal Majka (15:56:23) and third place went to Australian Jack Haig (15:56.40).

Soon after the start, six riders made a breakaway and they held the gap until the final five laps in Novo Mesto. Bahrain Merida Team again controlled the race and Sonny Colbrelli came first in the peloton to Novo Mesto, as planned. Unfortunately, riders from Bahrain Merida split one lap before the finish line, where Colbrelli took the fifth position some 500m to finish. The sprint in downtown Novo Mesto was not easy on the cobblestone cubes and Colbrelli finished third and lost the expected jersey.

Visconti said, “I am happy with my performance even if I didn’t win. The team worked very well and now that I proved my physical condition, I can hardly wait for National Championship with high morale and motivation.”

“We had higher expectations from this Tour at the beginning. We are also sorry and sad to have Kanstantsin Siutsou in the hospital with a bad injury. We wanted to win at least one stage of this race but overall we are satisfied and positively surprised with Giovanni Visconti’s performance, especially on the queen stage, which brought him second place in general classification,” said the Tour of Slovenia Sports Director, Gorazd Štangelj.