Ljubljana (AFP) - Tadej Pogacar warmed up for the defence of his Tour de France title by winning the Tour of Slovenia on Sunday as German Phil Bauhaus won the fifth and final stage into Novo Mesto.

“I’ve wanted this victory for a while and I am really happy with it,” said Slovenian Pogacar, who rides for Team UAE.

“My condition is quite good, I will rest now for a while, do some more training and then the Tour will start”, he said, adding that it would be “more difficult than last year, for sure”.

Pogacar, who finished 1min 23.31sec ahead of Italian team-mate Diego Ulisse, had ridden his home tour three times before finishing fifth in 2017 and fourth in both 2018 and 2019.

After the Tour, which ends on July 18, Pogacar plans to compete in the Olympic road race in Japan on July 24.

“I want a holiday after the Olympics,” he said.