The CRO Race 2024 ended with the title for Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) in Croatian lands, after six intense days of competition. The American, who succeeded Venezuelan Orluis Aular, was crowned champion of the European race after defending the lead without problems in the last stage finishing in Zagreb.
McNulty was joined on the final podium by Denmark’s Tobias Lund Andresen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), who finished 2nd, and Britain’s Fred Wright (Bahrain – Victorious) in 3rd place.
The day’s breakaway consisted of five riders: Matthias Schwarzbacher, Casper van der Woude, Konrad Czabok, Charles Paige and Kacper Maciejuk. The group never threatened the peloton too much, which kept a tight grip on the quintet.
Neutralization occurred with 19 kilometers to go, but the Zagreb street circuit saw more attacks from riders trying to take advantage of this last chance. A few riders broke away in the final kilometers and it was a decent move, but Uno-X Mobility closed the move with all of their riders at the head of the peloton.
Uno-X made another textbook perfect start, but this time the result was different. Oded Kogut, Israeli national champion, again got on Alexander Kristoff’s wheel, but in the final sprint this time he managed to overtake him. It was a surprising win, and a big disappointment for Uno-X, who finished second and third, while Kristoff’s own leader, Tord Gudmestad, was third. Brandon McNulty arrived safely in the peloton and won the overall classification.
As for the four Colombians in competition, the best of our team was Jhonatan Restrepo (Team Polti Kometa) in 79th place, more than 41 minutes behind the winner, followed by Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) 80th, Jonathan Guatibonza (UAE Team Emirates) 96th and Álvaro Hodeg (UAE Team Emirates) 105th.
The final day of the Croatian round was disputed between Sveta Nedelja and Zagreb with a completely flat course of 157.5 kilometers.