The Italian of the Bardiani CSF team celebrated the fourth stage after completing a total of 171 kilometers.
Italian cyclist Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani CSF) won the fourth stage of this year’s Tour of Croatia race from Starigrad-Paklenica to Crikvenica for a total of 171 kilometers, while Belarusian Konstantin Sivcov (Bahrain) has kept the lead in the overall order, reports Gol.hr on April 20, 2018.
Tonelli reached his fourth-stage victory impressively. The Italian spent almost the entire stage on the run, and in the last 15 kilometers alone he managed to keep the leading group at a distance and aim to pass the 12-second advantage ahead of teammate Enrico Barbin, who led the peloton. Third place was taken by Slovenian Jan Tratnik (CCC).
At the beginning of the stage, a group of seven cyclists set up in the front of the race. They included Janelli Brajkovič (Adria Mobil), Laurent Didier (Trek), Guillaume Boivin (Israeli Cycling Academy), Aristobulo Cala (Bicicletas Strongman), Lukasz Owsian (CCC) and Žandos Bižigatov (Astana). Because this group did not succeed in creating a more significant advantage at any time, 30 km before the finish, the leading group broke apart which was led by Grižan.
The most power was left to Tonelli who was on the tail of Grižan just 20 kilometers before the finish and had more a little more than a minute advantage over the leading group. Although it was expected, in the downhill and straight sprint that remained until the finish line in Crikvenica, the peloton managed to catch the Italian. Tonelli was surprised by the struggle, and Grižan fell 300 meters behind. Tonelli then managed to finish first and achieve an impressive victory.
In the overall order, there was no change at the top, and Belarusian Konstantin Sivcov (Bahrain) still leads with eight seconds ahead of Dutchman Pieter Weening (Roompot) in second, and 47 seconds ahead of the third-placed Kazakhstani cyclist Jevgenij Gidič (Astana). The best Croatian cyclist is Radoslav Rogina (Adria Mobil) in fourth 1:06 minutes behind Sivcov in first.
The program on Saturday is decisive, and the fifth stage runs from Rabac to Učka for 148 kilometers.
