October 2, 2019 – Slovenian cyclist Marko Kump, a member of the Adria Mobil team, won the first stage of the CRO Race cycling tour from Osijek to Lipik, which was 200 kilometers long.
Gol.hr reports that Marko Kump was faster than runner-up Kazakhstani Yevgeny Gidich of the Astana team by a few millimeters in the final sprint, while Romania’s Eduard-Michael Grosu, a member of France’s Delko Marseille, took third place.
This is the second stage victory for Kump on this Croatian tour, where he also won the second stage in 2015.
Croatian veteran 40-year-old Radoslav Rogina also played a major role in Kump’s victory and pulled the main group up to the finish line to give his sprinter an excellent position for the finish.
“The team did a great job for me, especially Rogina who put me in the ideal position. I may have started 50 meters too early, but I believed I would be able to win,” Kump said.
The other Croatian representative, Josip Rumac (Androni Giocattoli), who finished in ninth place, was also excellent in the first stage.
With a 10-second bonus for the stage victory, Kump also became the first CRO Race leader and will wear a red t-shirt on Wednesday.
From the very start of this year’s race, it was evident that the biggest contenders for the overall victory, British cyclist Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Slovenian Matej Mohoric (Bahrain), did not want to leave anything to chance. Passing the second goal in Kutjevo, they fought for bonus seconds – Mohoric won second place and two bonus seconds, and Yates third and one bonus second.
The first mountain finish in Gradac Nasicki was won by Austrian Markus Wildauer (Tyrol KTM) ahead of Italian Mauro Finetto (Delko Marseille) and Frenchman Quentin Pacher (Vital Concept). In the middle of the stage, three cyclists stood out from the leading group, Frenchman Alexis Guerin (Delko Marseille), Austrian Florian Kierner (Felbermayr Simplon Wels) and German Tobias Nolde (P&S Metalltechnik), who quickly created an advantage of more than four minutes. The three of them shared points on the third pass in Pozega, 60 kilometers before the finish. The first was Nolde, the second Guerin, and the third Kierner.
After this passing goal, the main group reduced the gap to two and a half minutes for Guerin and Kierner to lose contact with Nolde, leaving the young 20-year-old German at the forefront of the race.
Nodle was the first to cross the hill target at Bucje, and from the peloton, Wildauer stood out on the climb, securing second place at Bucje and first place in the category for the best climb at the end of the stage, and will wear a green t-shirt in the second stage. Wildauer persisted in his escape even after the hill and overtook Nolde 20 kilometers before the finish. Wildauer managed to keep himself in the lead until about five kilometers before the finish in Lipik when the leading group of cyclists swallowed him.
The second stage is scheduled to start on Wednesday from Slunj with the finish in Zadar, after cyclists pass the 186 km route through Plitvice Lakes National Park and Velebit Nature Park.
CRO Race – Stage One (Osijek – Lipik, 200 km)
1. Marko Kump (Slo/Adria Mobil) 4:27:29
2. Jevgenij Gidič (Kaz/Astana) same time
3. Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rum/Delko Marseille) “
4. John Mandrysch (Njem/P & S Metalltechnik) “
5. Alexander Edmondson (AUS/Mitchelton-Scott) “
6. Arvid de Kleijn (Niz/Metec-TKH) “
7. Cyril Gautier (Fra/Vital Concept) “
8. Rok Korošec (Slo/Ljubljana Gusto Santic) “
9. JOSIP RUMAC (HRV/Androni Giocattoli) “
10. Matej Mohorič (Slo/Bahrain-Merida) “
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