Tobias Lund Andresen 3rd in rain-soaked and windy afternoon of racing in Croatia

Due to strong winds and heavy rain, the original third stage at CRO Race was shortened this afternoon with the opening 65 kilometres or so removed from the parcours. When racing got underway it was clear that it was going to be a taxing day in the saddle and it became a proper race of attrition with riders slowly shelled from the peloton; whether that be on the ascents or descents.
At one moment McNulty put in a strong attack and built up an advantage over a reduced chasing peloton where Pavel Bittner, Sean Flynn, Tobias Lund Andresen and Warren Barguil remained. Unfortunately, Bittner slid out on one of the descents but thankfully he was ok and could continue on his spare bike. The remaining Team dsm-firmenich PostNL trio held on as things further splintered and the GC time was taken with 12 kilometres to go. However, the group would be unable to catch McNulty for the stage win, while Andresen fought to the finish to take third place on the day.
Lund Andresen said: “Today we all knew what kind of race it would be. As soon as the jumping started, it was just about staying in front. There were crashes and splits on all descents, so it was important to stay together in the front. I think we did really well to stay in the race and join the moves. In the end, McNulty was strong enough to stay away and Arrieta took some better final corners than me, but I’m happy with how the legs felt.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Luke Roberts added: “It was pretty chaotic out there today but the guys had their heads screwed on though and stayed at the front of the bunch. The peloton basically fell apart as it was hard for a full group to ride together on these roads with the conditions, so it basically became a race of attrition. We were well up there with numbers but unfortunately Oscar was dropped from the group and then Pavel slid out around one of the corners, so it meant we just had Tobias, Sean and Warren left going through the point where they took the GC times. McNulty was really strong and held on for the win. We wanted to fight for a result but unfortunately Sean suffered a puncture going onto the climb so he couldn’t help out Tobias and Warren for the finale. In the end, Arrieta attacked late and could get away while Tobias sprinted to third. It was really tough conditions out there for the guys today but it was good that they kept their heads in the game and pushed on for it. We have three more stages left to get an even better result here.”