Magnier does it again in CRO Race: Frenchman takes fourth victory (!) in small bunch sprint

Friday's queen stage delivered the expected battle, and perhaps also the expected winner. McNulty started as defending champion and rode away from his rivals on the grueling climb. With his time trial skills, he managed to gain almost two minutes, which seemed to decide the battle for the general classification.

But the fifth stage was no walk in the park, with a tough climb in the final. This climb was 7.4 kilometers at an average gradient of 5.2 percent, with steeper sections of around seven percent halfway up. The summit was 15 kilometers from the finish, after which the route was mainly downhill towards the finish in Sveta Nedelja.

The early breakaway consisted of six riders. Among them were two Dutchmen: Axel van der Tuuk and Casper van der Woude (both Metec-SOLARWATT p/b Mantel). The leaders worked well together until the final climb, at which point the group began to fall apart. Van der Tuuk proved to be the strongest of the six and continued his adventure solo.

However, the peloton was closing in on the number three in the Dutch time trial championships. INEOS Grenadiers took the lead on the climb and increased the pace. The group was thus reduced to about thirty riders. Although Van der Tuuk put up a brave fight, he was caught by the peloton at the top.

On the descent, Magnus Sheffield attacked on behalf of INEOS. The American took the necessary risks and even had to unclip from his pedal for a moment to hold the corner. However, the thinned-out group quickly caught up with Sheffield again.

Bahrain Victorious and UAE Team Emirates-XRG then made it impossible for the attackers to get away. Ultimately, a sprint decided the outcome. Magnier had survived the climbs well and was the first to attack in the sprint, narrowly beating Rui Oliveira. The sprinter thus won for the fourth time in five stages!