Iuri Gabriel Dantas Leitao Wins Stage Two of CRO Race in Sprint Finish
September 27, 2023
Novalja – Portuguese cyclist Iuri Gabriel Dantas Leitao emerged victorious in the sprint finish of stage two of the CRO Race. The stage covered a 114.5 kilometer course from Biograd na Moru to Novalja.
The stage started with four riders breaking away from the peloton. Slovenians Kristijan Koren and Anže Skok, Czech Jan Kašpar, and Austrian Marvin Hammerschmid formed the breakaway group. Kašpar took the lead at the intermediate sprint in Zadar, followed by Koren and Skok.
As the race progressed, the peloton, led by INEOS Grenadiers and Elia Viviani, kept the gap between the breakaway riders and the main pack to a maximum of two minutes. Skok was dropped from the lead group, leaving Koren, Hammerschmid, and Kašpar in the front.
Hammerschmid fell behind during the climb up Gradac, while Koren was caught by the peloton just before the top of the climb. Despite the difficult riding conditions, Kašpar maintained his position and secured the maximum points for the green jersey. Conor Swift and Jonas Gregaard took the remaining points.
In the final sprint, Leitao made his move 500 meters from the finish line and managed to hold off strong competitors, Elia Viviani and Alexander Kristoff, to take the stage victory. Viviani retains the blue points jersey while Michal Schuran maintains the green king of the mountains jersey.
Leitao expressed his joy at the victory and thanked his team for their support. The relatively short stage allowed him to conserve energy for the final sprint.
The second stage of the race will start in Otočac on September 28 and finish in Opatija. The cyclists are expected to arrive in Opatija between 4:31 PM and 4:46 PM.
