Slovenian Matej Mohorič, a member of the Bahrain-Victorious team is the winner of this year’s edition of the cycling event CRO Race, which ended on Sunday in front of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb.
Mohorič took the GC with a one second advantage over the second-placed Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and seven seconds ahead of the third-placed Scotsman Oscar Onley (Team DSM).
The final sprint of the last 158-kilometre-long sixth stage from Sveta Nedelja to Zagreb proved to be crucial. Mohorič took second place behind Italian Elia Viviani (INEOS Grenadiers) and thus took six bonus seconds with which he overtook Vingegaard. Italian Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) took third place on the sixth and also last stage of CRO Race.
“This was the best sprint preparation we did this year. I’m extremely happy because this is only my second win of the season. It’s good to end the season on a positive note”, said stage winner Viviani.
Mohorič is very happy with the outcome in the last stage, saying what the victory at the CRO Race means to him: “I fought until the last meter even though it seemed almost impossible to win in the GC. In this race I also had an incredible team that made it possible for me. This victory means a lot to me because I had a lot of health problems in the middle of the season and now, I look forward with optimism to remaining races until the end of the year.”
In addition to the red jersey for the overall winner, won by Mohorič, the Bahrain-Victorious team had a winner, the Italian Jonathan Milan in the competition for the blue jersey intended for the winner of the HEP-sponsored points competition. Frenchman Alexis Guerin (Vorarlberg) won the green jersey sponsored by Škoda for the best climber, while Onley won the white jersey sponsored by City of Zagreb as the best rider under 23 years old. The best team at the CRO Race is INEOS Grenadiers.
Bahrain-Victorious team did not give up the fight for the GC and it is shown by the first intermediate sprint in Sveta Nedelja after only 3.4 kilometres, which was taken by Mohorič. With those three bonus seconds he reduced the gap behind Vingegaard to five seconds. The second-placed in Sveta Nedelja was Onley who reduced gap to Vingegaard from eight to six seconds, while the third-placed was Milan.
However, before the second intermediate sprint, which was located in Dugo Selo on the 71st kilometre of the stage, a breakaway of five riders was formed and they took bonuses in both intermediate sprints in Dugo Selo and Vrbovec, so Mohorič and Onley were unable to further reduce the gap behind Vingegaard. Dutchman Timo Roosen (Jumbo-Visma) and Danny van der Tuuk (Equipo Kern Pharma), Canadian Alexander Cataford (Israel-Premier Tech), Italian Jacopo Mosca (Trek-Segafredo) and Spaniard Alex Martin Gutierrez (Eolo-Kometa) were on the breakaway.
Mosca was first-placed in Dugo Selo ahead of Roosen and Van der Tuuk, and in Vrbovec ahead of Van der Tuuk and Roosen. Then came the KOM in Sveti Ivan Zelina, which was won by Cataford ahead of Mosca and Van der Tuuk.
Until entering Zagreb, the peloton led by the Bahrain-Victorious team was about a minute behind the leading five riders.
After entering the final laps in Zagreb, the top of the main group was taken over by the INEOS Grenadiers team, which was preparing a sprint for its fastest man Viviani, while a huge job for Mohorič done Milan, who kept him at the very top the whole time and provided him with an ideal position before the final sprint, with which he ensured victory.
This year’s winners of Kids CRO Race – a virtual race for the youngest, joined the winners on stage too. Kids CRO Race was held simultaneously with CRO Race in seven cities – Osijek, Ludbreg, Zadar, Primošten, Crikvenica, Labin and Zagreb. In the younger age group of 9 and 10 years, the best this year were Eva from Zagreb and Tin from Crikvenica, and in the older age group of 11 and 12 years, the victory went to Lorena from Ludbreg and Leon from Zagreb.
The excellent news is that the CRO Race is levelled up to the Pro Series category. “This year’s CRO Race was a truly great sporting event – from the big names of professional cycling, as many as six WorldTour teams to competitors who won the biggest cycling races. And in this edition, the phenomenal added value of the event was again demonstrated – the race went through the entire country, the most beautiful shots and locations of Croatia were shown, and the excellent media coverage at the world level and the fact that the CRO Race was shown in 190 countries are reasons for our satisfaction. organizers, but also all partners and sponsors who supported this project. Our efforts and efforts to make the race better and stronger from year to year in terms of sport and organization have been recognized by the World Cycling Organization, and it makes me happy to announce that the categorization of the race has been improved, so the CRO Race in the 2023-2025 season will be in the Pro Series category. It is a confirmation that everything we have done so far has been professional and we are sure that the next editions will be even more spectacular”, said Vladimir Miholjević, director of CRO Race.
The cyclists were welcomed in Zagreb by the Envoy of the Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and State Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Sport Tomislav Družak, who handed the award to Mohorič, this year’s winner of the CRO Race, Deputy Mayor of the City of Zagreb Luka Korlaet, President of the Management Board of Hrvatska elektroprivreda d.d. Frane Barbarić and the representative of the company Porsche Inter Auto, representative of the Škoda brand Franjo Brandt.
