October 7, 2019 - British cyclist Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) is the winner of this year's edition of the CRO Race cycling tour, which finished at St. Mark's Square in Zagreb on Sunday.
HRT writes that Yates won with a time 22 seconds ahead of the second-placed Italian David Villella of Kazakhstan's Astana, and 29 seconds ahead of the third-placed Spaniard Victor De la Parte, a member of the US CCC team.
For the 27-year-old, who finished fourth at the 2016 Tour de France, this is his second victory in a stage race. So far, his best result was in Turkey in 2014. Earlier this year, Yates took second place in the "WorldTour" races "Tirreno-Adriatico" and "Volta a Catalunya".
“A win is a win no matter how big the race is. I can be pleased with the season even though it had its ups and downs,” Yates said.
In addition to the red jersey intended for the overall winner, Yates also won the green jersey as the best climber in the CRO Race. His team-mate from Australia, Alexander Edmondson (Mitchelton-Scott), won the blue jersey for best points, while Kazakhstani cyclist Vadim Pronski of Astana, who won the team title, wore the white jersey for best young cyclist.
The best-placed Croatian cyclist was 40-year-old Radoslav Rogina (Adria Mobil), who finished in tenth place in the overall order, 2:09 minutes behind Yates.
The winner of the last, sixth stage, from Sveta Nedelja to St. Mark's Square in Zagreb, was Italian Alessandro Fedeli from the French team Delko Marseille, who finished two seconds before second-placed Slovenian Jan Tratnik from Bahrain-Merida and third-placed Austrian Florian Kierner from Felbermayr Simplon.
Fedeli was a member of the eight who stood out from the leading group at the very beginning of the stage in Sveta Nedelja, and by bravely driving through the streets of Zagreb, he was able to resist the peloton to the finish. Fedeli attacked his fleeing partners during the penultimate round of driving downtown Zagreb about 10 kilometers before the finish line. Although Kierner, Dutchman Stef Krul (Metec-TKH), and Austrian Florian Gamper (Tirol KTM) were always only 10 seconds behind, they failed to catch him, while the Bahrain-Merida-led peloton misjudged their attack and missed the 23-year-old Italian, who marked his fifth professional career victory.
Yates crossed the finish in Zagreb as seventh with five seconds behind Fedeli, but that was enough to increase his lead in the final order from 15 to 22 seconds ahead of Villella.
The final, sixth stage was driven from Sveta Nedjelja to Zagreb, and cyclists also visited several other cities in Zagreb County, like Velika Gorica, Dugo Selo, Vrbovec and Sveti Ivan Zelina during the 155-kilometer route. The race ended with two six-kilometer laps in the center of Zagreb. There were targets in Velika Gorica, Dugo Selo, and Vrbovec, while Sveti Ivan Zelina hosted the only hill in the stage.
Very soon after the start, eight cyclists stood out from the leading group - Austrians Florian and Patrick Gamper from the Tirol KTM team, Florian Kierner and Patrick Lehner from Felbermayr Simplon and the Dutch Dylan Bouwmans and Stef Krul (Metec-TKH), Italian Alessandro Fedeli (Delko Marseille) and Slovenian Matic Grošelj (Ljubljana Gusto Santic). Those eight quickly created an advantage of over four minutes, dividing all the prizes for hitting the goals, but as none of them were near the top in the standings to win first place in any of the three competitions (overall ranking, competition by points, competition for the best climber), these results did not affect the final ranking.
Although by the time they entered Zagreb, the leading group had fallen to only a minute and a half ahead, and though it seemed that the winner would come from the leading group of cyclists, young Fedeli had other plans and with a fantastic solo-run, he achieved a sweet victory.
RESULTS
6. STAGE:
1. Alessandro Fedeli (Ita/Delko Marseille) 3:22:14
2. Jan Tratnik (Slo/Bahrain) +2
3. Florian Kierner (Aut/Felbermayr Simplon) +2
4. Stef Krul (Niz/Metec-TKH) +2
5. Alexander Edmondson (Aus/Mitchelton-Scott) +5
6. Dušan Rajović (Srb/Adria Mobil) +5
7. Adam Yates (VB/Mitchelton-Scott) +5
8. Sjoerd Bax (Niz/Metec-TKH) +5
9. Benjamin Hill (Aus/Ljubljana Gusto Santini) +5
10. Quentin Pacher (Fra/Vital Concept) +5
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31. RADOSLAV ROGINA (HRV/Adria Mobil) +24
51. JOSIP RUMAC (HRV/Androni Giocattoli) +1:31
OVERALL RESULTS:
1. Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) 20:57:05
2. Davide Villella (Ita/Astana) +22
3. Victor De la Parte (Špa/CCC) +29
4. Andrej Zajc (Kaz/Astana) +42
5. Domen Novak (Slo/Bahrain) +50
6. Alexis Guerin (Fra/Delko Marseille) +1:09
7. Pierre Rolland (Fra/Vital Concept) +1:25
8. Brent Bookwalter (SAD/Mitchelton-Scott) +1:42
9. Sjoerd Bax (Niz/Mrtec-TKH) +1:45
10. RADOSLAV ROGINA (HRV/Adria Mobil) +2:09
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37. JOSIP RUMAC (HRV/Androni Giocattoli) +19:11
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