Frenchman Paul Magnier was the winner of the fifth stage of the CRO Race cycling event from Karlovac to Sveta Nedelja, covering a distance of 164.5 kilometres. Magnier thus replicated his success from last year, when he also triumphed in Sveta Nedelja, marking his fifth career victory in Croatia after being the fastest in four stages of the CRO Race last year.
The winner managed to survive the demanding climb up Plešivica, whose summit was located just 16 kilometres before the finish. The Portuguese rider Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took second place, while the German Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) was third.
In the overall classification, Dane Tobias Svarre (Uno-X Mobility) retained the lead ahead of the final stage, holding a four-second advantage over second-placed Italian Antonio Tiberi. Third-placed Tim Wellens trails by eight seconds. Svarre is also leading the classification for the white jersey awarded to the best young rider, while the Danish rider Carl-Frederik Bevort (Uno-X Mobility) retained the blue jersey in the points classification. The green jersey for the best climber went to Tiberi, who won the mountain finish on Plešivica.
About 300 metres before the summit of Plešivica, Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) launched an attack, which was followed by the winner of the fourth stage, Colombian Daniel Martinez (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe). At the 15th kilometre of the stage, six riders broke away from the main peloton: Manuele Tarozzi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), Edoardo Zamperini (Cofidis), Filippo D'Aiuto (MBH Bank-CSB Telecom Fort), Jose Felix Parra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Samuel Boardman (Modern Adventure). The group of six managed to build a maximum lead of 2:36 minutes.
In Duga Resa, Parra crossed the line first, ahead of Boardman and D'Aiuto, while in Karlovac, Tarozzi was first, followed by D'Aiuto and Zamperini. At the first mountain finish in Lović Prekriški, the leading group’s advantage was slightly less than a minute, with D'Aiuto scoring the maximum points ahead of Zamperini and Parra. Boardman was the first to drop from the breakaway, while the remaining five riders lasted until the third intermediate sprint in Jastrebarsko, where Parra passed first ahead of D'Aiuto and Tarozzi. The race passed through Barilović, Bosiljevo, Duga Resa, Netretić and Ozalj, before crossing into Zagreb County all the way to the finish in Sveta Nedelja.
Seven teams from the highest UCI WorldTeams category participated in the race: UAE Team Emirates, Bahrain Victorious, Lidl-Trek, Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe, Uno-X Mobility, Souda Quick Step and NSN Cycling Team. They were joined by ten teams from the ProTeams category and two from the Continental Teams category. This year’s race coincides with the World Championships, and the race image potentially reaches up to 1.9 billion people on the planet.
At the start of the fifth stage in Karlovac was the ambassador of this year’s edition of the race, Martin Sinković, a celebrated Croatian rower and three-time Olympic champion. "This race is very dear to me personally. I ride a bicycle, I watch the Tour de France, the Giro and the Vuelta, but my favourite is the CRO Race," Sinković stated, adding: "This is a great promotion for Croatia and my heart is full when I see something like this taking place in Croatia." He also remarked: "I am pleased that this race sends the finest qualities of Croatia to the world."
Sinković also addressed the citizens: "Train hard and enjoy every moment of engaging in sport," "I know it is not easy to enjoy yourself when training is at its toughest, but you must give it your all and it will get better," and "Come to such races even more because it is truly fun and will contribute to a better image of Croatia." At the start of the fifth stage in Karlovac, the cyclists were also greeted by Martina Fundek-Hajdin, the county prefect of Karlovac County.
After his victory, Magnier stated: "I knew the route from last year, but I knew it would be harder to get the win due to the situation in the overall classification, where there are still plenty of riders in contention for the victory." He added: "The team did a good job throughout the entire stage, especially in the finale where I had four riders who prepared the sprint for me excellently." He also highlighted: "In the previous stages I failed to find space to generate my sprint, so today I decided to go earlier," concluding: "Tomorrow’s stage suits me too and I hope for another victory."
The CRO Race has been supported by the highest state institutions since its first edition. Alongside the race, this year’s edition is backed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the Croatian National Tourist Board, the City of Zagreb, and numerous other cities and counties. On Sunday, the final sixth stage from Samobor to Zagreb, covering 159.5 kilometres, is scheduled.
