Felix Engelhardt and Mauro Schmid wrapped up a dream week at Okolo Slovenska for Team Jayco AlUla with the former taking victory on the final stage and Swiss champion Schmid winning the overall classification.
The Australian team went into the last day with plenty of momentum behind them after winning the opening two stages and keeping the leader’s yellow jersey within the squad since the very start.
After claiming the race lead from his teammate Anders Foldager the day before, Schmid started the final stage with a two-second advantage over Julian Alaphilippe. He quickly added an extra three seconds to that buffer by mopping up a bonus when he won the intermediate sprint.
A breakaway was allowed up the road, but with so much on the line it was brought back with two climbs remaining. Callum Scotson opened things up for Team Jayco AlUla, attacking on the penultimate ascent and forcing the team’s rivals to work hard.
On the last climb, Schmid and Engelhardt remained in the vastly reduced bunch. Alaphilippe tried several times to break away from Schmid but the Swiss rider never let the Frenchman out of his sights.
Engelhardt took advantage of the GC riders focusing on each other and launched a few of his own attacks before escaping up the road inside the last two kilometres to take the stage win. Schmid was not far behind his teammate and took second on the stage to ensure victory in the overall classification.
His win sees Engelhardt jump onto the final GC podium, while Foldager finished in fourth and Scotson secured a top-10 position, too.
Mauro Schmid:
“It feels great to be able to win this race. We had a super strong team here in Slovakia and we had it under control for the whole stage. I just had to follow Julian’s attacks on the last climb to keep yellow. And then with the attack of Felix it was also perfect for me. It was the best way to finish the week.”
Felix Engelhardt:
“The plan was to isolate Alaphilippe on the climb as much as we could and for Mauro just to stay on his wheel and try to out-sprint him in the final. I attacked a couple of times over the last four or five kilometres. Then, with 1.2km to go, it was a really good opportunity. He (Alaphilippe) turned around, and I just went from the back. He couldn’t follow any more and, luckily, I had the legs to pull it off and then Mauro beat him in the sprint. It was perfect for us.”
2024 Okolo Slovenska stage 5 results:
- Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco AlUla) 03:24:11
- Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) +06
- Julian Alaphilippe st
2024 Okolo Slovenska final GC
- Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) 16:36:03
- Julian Alaphilippe +07
- Felix Engelhardt (Team Jayco AlUla) +28
