9th CRO RACE BEGINS ON OCTOBER 1st IN VODICE
VODICE, September 30, 2024 – The countdown is over – the ninth edition of the international cycling race CRO Race begins tomorrow, October 1st, in Vodice! 139 cyclists in 20 cycling teams, including 6 WorldTour teams, will compete in six stages until October 6th, over nearly a thousand kilometres across Croatia. The race will be broadcasted live on Croatian National Television (HRT) and Eurosport, with coverage reaching an impressive 140 countries around the world, highlighting teams from diverse regions including Australia and Europe.
The start of the race was announced at a press conference by Vladimir Miholjević, race director, Luka Mišović, technical director, Ante Cukrov, mayor of Vodice, and two cyclists – last year’s winner Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA) and Fran Miholjević (Bahrain Victorious), one of the four Croats at the race and the only Croatian cyclist riding in a “WorldTour” team.
“I am happy to be back at CRO Race. I will try to defend the title, and I believe we have a good team for it. In this race, classification seconds are very important, so we will try to sprint at all the intermediate sprints and KoM”, said Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria.
Fran Miholjević, confirmed his good form and commented on the stages of this year’s race:
“There will be no time for relaxation. We have a young climber, Edoardo Zambanini, in our team, he is very explosive and could achieve a good result. I will be most motivated for a good result in the third and fourth stages, which are closest to my heart because I practically train on those roads every day. Even if I am not the best physically, I can make up for it mentally”, added the 22-year-old from Rijeka.
This year again, the KIDS CRO Race, a virtual race on trainers for children aged 9 to 12, is being held. The first race was held today, September 30th, at 12:00 PM in Vodice, with a total of 97 children participating. The winners in the 9 to 10-year-old categories are Ana Radišić and Ive Sladoljev, and in the 11 to 12-year-old categories, Franka Pražen and David Bevanda. Each subsequent race will be held at the finish lines of individual stages – Sinj, Novalja, Opatija, Labin, Karlovac, and Zagreb.
More information about the CRO Race
This year’s edition of the CRO Race will be held from October 1st to 6th, on nearly 1000 kilometres across Croatia. Twenty teams from all three categories of the World Cycling Organization – UCI WorldTeams, UCI ProTeams, and UCI Continental Teams – will participate. Viewers can watch the race live on HRT and Eurosport, and it will be broadcasted in 140 countries. Alongside promoting cycling, the CRO Race positions Croatia as an attractive tourist destination, bringing scenes of rich Croatian cultural and natural heritage into the homes of viewers worldwide. The ninth edition of the race is supported by state and local institutions such as the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Croatian National Tourist Board, the City of Zagreb, other cities and counties the race passes through, and numerous other sponsors and partners, such as HEP.
