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Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) made his move on the first climb of the Brocon Pass, opening up a significant gap over Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) with 30 kilometres remaining.
Pogacar eventually gave chase amid the peloton’s hesitation, but perhaps more out of instinct than necessity.
The Slovenian’s advantage in the general classification grew to 7’42” by the time he crossed the line, though he was unable to prevent Steinhauser from securing the first professional victory of his career.
“To be honest, I didn’t really think about much, I just concentrated on the roads in front of me,” Steinhauser said.
“The roads were super wet and slippery so I was just in my zone. I heard on the radio and I was super nervous in the last climb.
“I heard at one point that [Pogacar] was attacking but I was already two kilometres to go so I thought I will make it.”
As Steinhauser celebrated, Australian Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) wasn’t as pleased after losing more time to his GC rivals in the race for the podium.
O’Connor placed 12th on the 159-kilometre stage and now sits 1’43” behind Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadier) in third, with Daniel Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) a further 22 seconds safe in second.
As for Pogacar, it’s all about preserving his grip on the maglia rosa over the final days before the peloton finish the Italian Grand Tour in Rome.
“The main goal is always to keep the jersey into Rome and not do anything stupid,” Pogacar said.
“But there is one really nice stage, Monte Grappa, close to Slovenia, we can see what happens there.”
