The outcome of the first stage of the CRO Race It was as spectacular as curious. In the reappearance of Jonas Vingegaard in competition After his impressive victory in the last Tour de France, the leading role went to an unknown to the general public who points out ways for the future: Jonathan Milan. The Italian (21 years old), pistard who won the Olympic team pursuit gold at Tokyo 2020 alongside his compatriot Filippo Ganna, premiered his professional record by imposing its tremendous power in a sprint where Bahrain displayed power.
In a long day marked by cold and rain, 223.5 km, it was Bahrain who decided to bet on victory with several tricks in a final section where two laps of a circuit of about 15 km had to be completed, with a small elevation (3.2 km at 3.9% average) to overcome in each of the steps. With the escape already neutralized minutes before, he was an expert in this type of situation, as he well demonstrated with his descent from Poggio in the past Milan-San Remo, who in the absence of 3 km began to open a gap in the descent. Thus, everything seemed resolved in favor of a Matej Mohoric who, one more day, once again demonstrated his technical superiority when the road slopes down.
However, the Slovenian’s income was so meager that, already on the finish line, the Bahrain was forced to change plans on the fly to seek victory, since its leader, Santiago Buitrago, he was already well placed in the first cut of corridors. It was with 500 meters to go when Milan, without any pitcher to make his job easier, showed the world that he is also a natural wonder on the road (1.94 m tall and 84 kg). And well he did give it his all to get the win and be the first leader of the Croatian round, as Mohoric was eventually overtaken by five other riders. Vingegaard entered the cut head despite his little filming since the Tour and being shivering during some points of the tour due to the cold and the rain. Quite the opposite of a Geraint Thomas who at the first change already yielded 1:19 at the finish line…
Results of the first stage
1st Jonathan Milan (Bahrain) – 5h 31:48
2nd Sacha Modolo (Bardiani) – mt
3rd Mirco Maestri (Eolo-Kometa) – mt
6th Sergio Martin (Rural Box) – mt
Overall CRO Race Classification
1st Jonathan Milan (Bahrain) – 5h 31:38
2nd Sacha Modolo (Bardiani) – at 4″
3rd Mirco Maestri (Eolo-Kometa) – 6″
6th Sergio Martin (Rural Box) – 10″