SINJ, 1 October 2024 – Thirty-seven-year-old Norwegian Alexander Kristoff, member of team Uno-X Mobility, has won the first stage of this year’s CRO Race, which ran its 162.5- kilometre course from Vodice to Sinj.
Kristoff perfectly timed his final sprint in Sinj, winning by a bike length ahead of Italian duo Giovanni Lombardi (Polti-Kometa) in second place and Alberto Bruttomessa (Bahrain Victorious) in third. This is Kristoff’s 95th career victory, and his first at CRO Race after his second place finish in the general classification last year. Kristoff thus takes the GC leader’s red jersey into the second stage; he is also leading in the contest for the blue points jersey. Axel van der Tuuk (Metec-Solarwatt p/b Mantel) took the green jersey on this stage, while the white jersey for best young rider (23 and under) was taken by Alberto Bruttomesso (Bahrain Victorious).
“I had a bit of a cold this morning and didn’t feel well at the stage start, so we decided to give more priority to the breakaway. But because of a crash in the break itself their lead fell significantly. The finish was pretty stressful because of the narrow roads and sharp turns, but the team kept a good position. In the end I managed to position myself well behind Viviani and surprise him by starting my sprint early. Last year I was second in the GC in this race, but without any stage wins. Now I have a stage win, but we’ll see what happens in the end. This year I’m quite a bit more fatigued than last year”, said Kristoff.
The first intermediate sprint—and thus the first chance to snatch up bonus seconds—was in Šibenik, just 14.5 kilometres from the start, so the peloton remained compact until then. First across the line at the first intermediate sprint was Englishman Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), who thus took three bonus seconds. Second place and two bonus seconds went to Belgian Jordy Bouts (TDT-Unibet), and third place and one bonus second went to Dutchman Luc Wirtgen (Tudor).
Shortly after the intermediate sprint, three riders attacked off the front—Spaniards Johin Murguilday (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Francisco Muñoz (Polti-Kometa), and Czech Filip Reha (ATT Investments), who were then joined by Australian Cyrus Monk (Q36.5) and Dutchman Axel van der Tuuk (Metec-Solarwatt p/b Mantel). This five-rider breakaway racked up a four-minute lead over the peloton before the first climb of the day at Ljubičići; first across the top was Van der Tuuk in front of Reha and Murguilday. The breakaway’s lead then increased to 5:50; first across the second intermediate sprint in Drniš was Monk, in front of Van der Tuuk and Muñoz. By the start of the category 1 climb up Tešije, the breakaway’s lead had increased even further to 7:50, but within the first half of the stage, hard work from DSM-Firmenich POSTNL riders cut this lead back less than 6:30. Then, a moment’s loss of focus from Muñoz saw him slip out in a corner, taking Reha and Murguilday down with him, cutting back the front group’s lead drastically by another two minutes. Sadly, Reha fared worst in the crash, and was dropped from the break. Van der Tuuk was first across the categorised climb at Tešije, ensuring himself the green climber’s jersey at the start of stage two; Murguilday and Muñoz crossed the line second and third, respectively. By the top of the climb, the peloton had pared down the lead to three minutes, and this number continued to fall during the descent.
The leading four managed to hang on to a two minute lead over the peloton at the final intermediate sprint across the finish in Sinj, with three bonus seconds going to Monk, two to Van der Tuuk, and one to Murguilday. But at the very start of the final lap, Muñoz and Van der Tuuk split off from Murguilday and Monk, neither of whom were able to keep ahead of the peloton, which swallowed them back up 14.5 kilometres from the finish line.
At the start of the first stage, riders were greeted by: Mr. Josip Pavić, state secretary, on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports; Dr. Marko Jelić, head of Šibenik-Knin County; Ante Cukrov, mayor of Vodice; Anita Franin-Pečarica, director of the Vodice Tourist Board; Dino Karađole, director of the Šibenik Tourist Board; and other important guests of destination partners.
Cyclists were greeted at the finish line by: Miro Bulj, mayor of Sinj; Petar Župić, president of the Sinj City Council; Denis Bobeta, deputy mayor of Sinj; and Monika Vrgoč, director of the Sinj Tourist Board.
The second stage of the race will be held on 2 October from Biograd na Moru to Novalja at a length of 114.5 kilometres.
Photo: Sport-IT
