Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) highlighted his post-Giro d’Italia form by claiming victory on the stage 3 time trial of the Tour of Slovenia, beating overall leader Rein Taaramae (Katusha) into second place by four seconds.
The short time trial featured a stiff finishing climb to Celjsha Koca, and Ulissi made light of the slopes to record the day’s fastest time. Taaramae was the final starter after taking hold of the yellow jersey by winning Friday’s stage, and the Estonian came close to a brace of wins, but ultimately fell just short of Ulissi’s time.
Winner of the tough stage to Sant’Anna di Vinadio on the final weekend of the Giro d’Italia, Taaramae has carried that condition to Slovenia, and stands on the cusp of final overall victory. He leads neo-professional Jack Haig (Orica-GreenEdge) by 1:46 ahead of Sunday’s final stage.
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Haig placed fifth in Saturday’s time trial, 1:14 down on the flying Ulissi. The day’s early pace-setter had been Alexander Foliforov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), winner of the mountain time trial to Alpe di Siusi at the Giro, but the Russian had to settle for fourth, 1:10 behind.
Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) performed strongly, placing third in the same time as Taaramae, but Ulissi was not to be denied. Winner of two stages at the Giro, the Tuscan is seeking selection for the Italian team at the Rio 2016 Olympics, and is hoping to earn his spot with strong showings in Slovenia and at next month’s Tour of Poland.
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