Sunday's race L'Etape Slovenia by Tour de France 2023
1,100 cyclists are richer for the L'Etape Slovenia experience. 3,000 fans cheered for them, and nearly 70,000 viewers watched the live broadcast on Planet TV and 8,000 web users visited Siol.net to read the contribution or watch live stream
The second edition of L'Etape Slovenia by Tour de France hosted more than 1,000 cyclists from all over Slovenia and 23 other countries on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning. Cyclists from Slovenia dominated - 81%, but they came to the capital of the Slovenian Alps from all over Slovenia: from Prekmurje to Primorska, the majority came from the Gorenjska and the Central Slovenian regions. Most foreign cyclists came from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, Hungary and Italy.
Three, two, one! Good luck!
The stage event was attended by an extremely diverse peloton of cyclists of all ages - the oldest participants were an astonishing 74 years old - who each overcame the demanding 68 km or 136 km long route.
"Three, two, one! Good luck!" said Matjaž Rakovec, mayor of the Municipality of Kranj, to all the participants at the start and the peloton set off in the company of champion Matej Mohorič, ambassador of L'Etape Slovenia.
The first, longer and more demanding climb of the 2nd difficulty category scale led through Podblica to Jamnik, where a mountain finish (KOM) was also located. The ascent reaches a gradient of 17% in some places. On this part of the route, locals and visitors from all over provided a real Tour de France atmosphere, there were also motorhomes, spectators waving Slovenian flags, cycling high above the ground and a lot of encouraging of everyone on this challenging but wonderful part of the route, which, with its unique geographical location, impresses everyone with wonderful views of mountain Jelovica, the Kamnisko-Savinjske Alps, Karavanke and then a descent to Kropa. Didi the devil was also present with his trident. The smile of the participants thus prevailed, despite the heavy legs and the first sensations of burning muscles.
And who won the iconic Tour de France shirts this year?
The fastest on the course and the winners of the yellow jersey, sponsored by I Feel Slovenia, are:
- On the longer route (Race): Laura Šimenc in the time of 3:39:55.3 and Johnny Hoogerland, AUT (3:21:50.2)
- On the shorter route (Ride): Valerie Rupitsch (AUT) in the time of: 1:46:03.1 and Gašper Breznik in the time of 1:32:54.8.
The fastest mountain climbers and winners of the polka-dot jersey, sponsored by Gorenjska banka, are:
- On the longer route: Laura Šimenc (32:52.5) and Johhny Hoogerland from Austria (26:20.4)
- On the shorter route: Austrian Valerie Rupitsch (0:18:34.1) and Kristijan Božnar (0:13:40.1).
The fastest sprinters and winners of the green jersey, sponsored by MO Kranj, are:
- On the longer route: Laura Šimenc (0:02:04.5) and Niko Senekovič in the time of 0:01:39.9
- On the shorter route: Austrian Valerie Rupitsch in the time of 0:01:03.1 and Alen Tandar (0:00:56.3).
The fastest and under the age of 25 - the winners of the white jersey, sponsored by the Kranj Cycling Club, are:
- on the longer route: Adrienn Punk (HUN) in the time of 4:17:20.0 and Nejc Čenčič in the time of 3:28:20.2.
- On the shorter route: Lenča Belehar (1:51:45.3) and Sebastian Pavlas from the Chezch Republic in the time of 1:37:43.8.
>> Results of all participants
Participant's photos for an unforgettable memory
Personal photos of participants from the route are available through the official Sportograf photographer.
>> View and buy photos at Sportograf
L'Etape Reward program
The legendary Tour de France got its recreational version in 1993, when the first L'Etape du Tour, the French stage event, was held. Ever since then, its popularity has been extraordinary, as tickets are practically sold out even before registrations open. The award program gives the fastest three on the L'Etape Slovenia longer route a ticket to participate in L'Etape du Tour 2024. This year, this are the winners to ride at L'Etape Slovenia next year:
- In women's competition: Laura Šimenc, Dunja Selan and Maja Mencigar (all from Slovenia).
- In men's competitioni: Johnny Hoogerland (AUT), Federico Pozzetto (ITA) and Tadej Sedar (SLO).
Congratulations and good luck!
Media coverage of the event
We have provided live broadcasting of Sunday's race of 2nd edition of L’Etape Slovenia on Planet TV, our media partner. As many as 70,000 viewers (reach according to Planet TV data) watched the cycling experience of L'Etape Slovenia and the fight of the participants for the iconic Tour de France jerseys, and approximately 8,000 visitors to the Siol.net web portal followed the race via online contribution and live streaming of the Ride and Race. The video of the race will be available soon on the L'Etape Slovenia You Tube channel.
A big thank you to you all
In all places along the entire route: in Besnica, Nemilje, Podblica, Jamnik, Kropa, Tržič, Križe, Golnik, Bašelj, the peloton of L'Etape Slovenia cyclists was encouraged with enthusiasm and fan banners by locals and fans, the true fans of cycling. Slovenian flags were seen in many places. Thank you all, as you are an indispensable part of the race. Thanks also to all the locals who live along the route for their patience and consideration of road closures.
Finally – a sincere thanks to all the participants, the host city of Kranj and the Tourist and Culture Board Kranj, presenting partner I Feel Slovenia, the Slovenian Police, security staff, health service, volunteers, the Cycling Club of Kranj and all the partners of the 2-day cycling festival L'Etape Slovenia by Tour de France.
See you next year – on 7th and 8th of September 2024!
