WorldTour
Davide Donati wins the final stage of the CRO Race
Davide Donati has won the sprint finish of the CRO Race, securing Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe’s second stage victory in Croatia.
With his victory in the Zagreb city sprint, the 21-year-old celebrated his third win of the season.
After 160 flat kilometres starting in Samobor and featuring two finishing circuits, Davide had positioned himself behind favourite Paul Magnier. With no teammates left to lead him out, Magnier had to launch his sprint extremely early in the finale, effectively becoming Davide’s lead-out man. Davide took full advantage of the excellent position and sprinted to victory.
Successful conclusion to the CRO Race
Early in the season, the Italian had already won two stages of the Giro di Sardegna. At the CRO Race, his victory came after Daniel Felipe Martínez’s stage win on the third day of the race, giving Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe their second success in this year’s ProSeries event. Adrien Boichis also rounded off the team’s performance by finishing fifth overall.
Davide certainly deserved it today.
Davide Donati: “After we’d made a few mistakes in the sprint yesterday, the team was determined to do better today. I picked the best rider to position myself behind and decided to launch my final sprint as late as possible.”
Gregor Gazvoda, Sports Director: "It was a surprise win today. Davide had been feeling good throughout the week, but for a long time we weren’t able to put him in the position he needed to be in. That was also because we lost Danny van Poppel already on Stage 1 and then Mick van Dijke on Stage 3. Realistically, we had also thought that Magnier would be faster. But Davide definitely deserved this today.We finish the race with two wins from six stages and fifth place overall with Adrien. All in all, it’s a result we can be happy with."
