Svarre also won the white jersey for best young rider. The blue points jersey went to Dane Carl-Frederik Bevort (Uno-X Mobility), while the green jersey for best climber went to Italian rider Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious).
Danish cyclist Tobias Svarre (Uno-X Mobility) has won the general classification of the eleventh CRO Race, while Italian Davide Donati (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) won the final, sixth stage ridden from Samobor to Zagreb at a length of 159.5 kilometres.
“It’s been three long days, because you never know what these guys will do. It was a lovely fight and I’m proud of myself. I took my first professional win and that’s why this race will be a fond memory for me. I hope to come back next year to defend my title,” said Svarre.
Svarre crossed the finish line on the final stage in 35th place, his winning time safe in the peloton, enough for him to keep his four second lead in the general classification ahead of second-placed Italian rider Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and eight seconds ahead of Belgian Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in third place.
Svarre also won the white jersey for best young rider. The blue points jersey went to Dane Carl-Frederik Bevort (Uno-X Mobility), while the green jersey for best climber went to Italian rider Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious).
This year’s race had a new finish line venue—Zagreb’s Jarun lake, and as expected, the sprinters were in the spotlight. Frenchman Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), winner of stage five, kicked off the front too early, around 300 metres before the line, and didn’t manage to hang onto first place.
Ideally positioned behind him was 21-year-old Donati, who attacked off Magnier’s wheel at the right moment for a convincing win. Second place went to his compatriot Lorenzo De Longhi (Cofidis), with Magnier taking third.
“After we messed things up in the sprint yesterday, today the team was determined to make it right. I chose the best rider I could sit behind, and I decided to start my final sprint as close to the line as possible. I was ill at the beginning of the race, but as the days went on I started feeling better and better,” said Donati, for whom this is his seventh win in 2026.
By the first intermediate sprint in Velika Gorica there were no attacks, especially because team Lidl-Trek wanted to help their sprinter, German rider Tim Torn Teutenberg, to take the maximum number of points and reduce his gap to Dane Carl-Frederik Bevort (Uno-X Mobility) in the blue jersey contest. In the end, it was Bevort’s teammate, Norwegian Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility), who crossed the line first in Velika Gorica, with Bevort taking third and thus limiting his losses to two points.
Immediately after the first intermediate sprint, a five-man breakaway formed with Italian riders Andrea Bessega (Lidl-Trek) and Manuele Tarozzi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), Frenchmen Valentin Ferron (Cofidis) and Dario Giuliano (Polti VisitMalta), and Spanish rider Jon Agirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
They quickly worked up a gap of two minutes oevr the peloton, with Agirre taking the intermediate sprint in Dugo Selo ahead of Guiliano and Bessega.
By the only categorised climb on today’s stage in Sveti Ivan Zelina, the gap of the leading five had dropped to one minute; first over the KOM was Agirre, thus jumping to third place in the final rankings for the climber’s classification.
The breakaway riders managed to remain at the front of the race until the first pass over the finish line at Jarun, but they were caught up nine kilometres before the end. Bonus points at the third intermediate sprint—the second pass over the finish line at Jarun—went to Frenchman Clement Izquierdo (Cofidis), Italian Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious), and Croat Fran Miholjević (Bahrain Victorious).
The 159.5-kilometre stage from Samobor to Zagreb wrapped up this year’s CRO Race, the eleventh so far, which began on 22 September in Split.
In addition to promoting cycling, CRO Race advertises Croatia as a tourist destination, bringing shots of Croatia’s wealth of cultural and natural heritage into the homes of viewers worldwide. Since its first edition, CRO Race has been supported by the highest government institutions in Croatia. This year, support comes from the Croatian government, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the Croatian Tourist Board, the city of Zagreb, and numerous other cities and counties hosting stage starts or finishes or through which the race will be passing.
At the starting line of stage six, the riders were greeted by Samobor mayor Petra Škrobot, and Dubravko Šimenc, outdoor, sports and cycling tourism product manager at the Croatian Tourist Board’s Tourist Product Development Department.
At the finish line at Zagreb’s Jarun lake, alongside numerous spectators, the cyclists were greeted by: Josip Pavić, envoy of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Sport; deputy head of the Zagreb City Office for Education, Sport and Youth Marko Bošnjak; Škoda’s Director of Marketing and PR Sanja Stanić; Dario Zurovec, envoy of President of Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandroković, MP, and Mayor of Sveta Nedelja; and Dubravko Šimenc, outdoor, sports and cycling tourism product manager at the Croatian Tourist Board’s Tourist Product Development Department.
