Defending champion McNulty powers away during brutal queen stage to take the double in CRO Race

Paul Magnier, Paul Magnier, Paul Magnier. The Frenchman from Soudal Quick-Step was, just like in the Tour of Slovakia, by far the best sprinter in Croatia. The first three stages all went to the 21-year-old powerhouse, but he would have a tough time in the fourth stage. 3700 meters of climbing to Labin, with a brutal finale and a tough finish: this is where the differences would be made!

Four riders got some space at the start of the stage, but Axel van der Tuuk (Metec - SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) and his companions were given little room. The gap barely exceeded 2 minutes, and with more than 80 kilometers to go, they were caught by the peloton. That was just before the top of the Poklon climb, the highest point of the day.

Leader Magnier had already been dropped from the thinned-out peloton, where UAE Team Emirates - XRG set the pace as expected. Defending champion Brandon McNulty was in an excellent position to do well again, and he also picked up bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint, ahead of Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) and Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe).

Even before the peloton had crossed the start-finish line for the first time, Pepijn Reinderink made his move. The Dutchman from Soudal Quick-Step attacked, and was later joined by seven others: the very young Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) rode up to them, together with Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers), Tim Wellens (UAE), Joan Bou (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma), Floris Van Tricht (Israel - Premier Tech), and Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta).

Not much later, Reinderink took off again, and Van Tricht followed. However, as they passed the finish line - the last time before the finish - the pair were caught again by the pack, which had caught up with the chasers. So everything was back together again. Well, everything: Van Poppel logically dropped back on the difficult sections. But the most challenging part was yet to come in the queen stage.

The Skitaca was the decisive factor of the day, just over 20 kilometers from the finish line. 3.4 kilometers and an average gradient of no less than 11%: a real killer. INEOS Grenadiers had taken the lead before that, but now it was Wellens who set the pace in service of McNulty. Riders dropped like flies. The American's acceleration followed logically and quickly.

Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers), Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla), and Omrzel followed, but McNulty's pace was grueling. He quickly rode them out of his wheel, although the Italian and the Slovenian managed to stay reasonably close. However, the UAE team leader had found his pace and slowly but surely extended his lead. The difference at the top was 20 seconds, but there was still a long way to go.

Once downhill, Omrzel and Zana were caught by a chasing group that included Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers), Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural), and Zambanini. Later, a group including Wellens came back, which led to mediocre cooperation. McNulty rode further and further away from the competition.

In the final kilometers, Zambanini, Kwiatkowski, and Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural) managed to break away, but McNulty was out of sight. The American rode solo into Labin and scored a powerful double victory. Behind the winner, Zambanini, who had already finished third in the second stage, won the sprint for second place, ahead of Kwiatkowski: a full 1.40 minutes behind the winner.