Teammate UAE Team Emirates, Rafal Majka, won the clown and had to cross the finish line first in Velika Planina after driving 152 kilometers from Lasko.
They rolled over the finish line with their arms around each other's shoulders.
Five kilometers from the goal, they had separated from other top competitors.
- We had a nice day and did the last climb together.
Then Tadej said that I would have to win the stage, says Majka who is second overall - three seconds behind Pogacar before today's final stage, which will be the final refinement before the Tour de France which starts in Copenhagen on 1 July.
There, Pogacar is chasing its third straight overall victory.
Majka, who will be an assistant rider to Pogacar in France, was grateful to receive help for the stage win from his Slovenian teammate who competed in front of the home fans in the cycling-crazy nation.
- Tadej could have done it better than anyone else and yet he let me win the stage, Majka says to her own stable UAE.