CRO Race: Paul Magnier delivers back-to-back sprint wins on wind-shortened stage 2

Stage 2 of the race was originally set to run for 114.5km on a coastal route from Biograd na More to Novalja, but high winds on a bridge forced organisers to cut the stage length to just 51km, with the race finishing on the third-category climb at Jovići instead.

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Despite the stage’s reduced length, a three-man break of Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Artur Sowinski (Run & Race-Wibatech), Dan Tomsic (Pogi Team Ljubljana) ventured up the road to take a maximum advantage of 1:20.

Back in the peloton, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Soudal-QuickStep, and Bahrain Victorious were among the teams controlling the race, aiming to bring it all back together for the new-look finish.

At 22km to go, Molenaar lost touch with the break, leaving the two remaining riders a minute up on the chasing peloton. Sowinski and Tomsic battled on until the 9km mark, at which point the WorldTour squads took over for the charge towards the finish line.

Bahrain, Ineos Grenadiers, and Israel-Premier Tech all sent riders to the front for the final run to the finish, while a late attack from Polish squad Voster ATS tried and failed to disrupt proceedings inside the final 2km.

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UAE led out the uphill sprint with Ineos just behind, but it was Magnier who produced the quickest finish, freestyling in the sprint to push past Van Poppel and teammate Dries Van Gestel before hitting the wind on his own.

Neither Turner nor Van Poppel had the speed to keep up with Magnier’s burst, leaving the 21-year-old to jump clear and win by some margin. Behind him, Zambanini followed a bike length back to come through for second place.