Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) remains upbeat for Il Lombardia next Saturday despite losing his overall lead of the CRO Race to Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) at the last possible moment.
Vingegaard's slim leading buffer meant he may have been on guard heading into the final sprint stage of the CRO Race on Sunday, but in the end there was little he could do to stave off Mohoric as the Slovenian capitalised on bonus seconds to snatch overall victory.
Already victorious on stage 3, 48 hours later Vingegaard had stepped into the lead when he won a 154km hilly trek from Opatija to Labin on Saturday, the hardest stage of the 2.1 race. However, with Mohorič slotting into second place overall at only eight seconds back there was no room to relax on the final 158km from Sveta Nedelja to Zagreb on Sunday.
“We knew Bahrain would try early on,” Vingegaard said in a Jumbo-Visma statement. “We also tried, but I am not fast enough to sprint with these riders.”
The Bahrain Victorious rider started chipping away at Vingegaard’s lead early on, shaving off three seconds in an early intermediate sprint. While the break then swept up the later bonuses there was still an opportunity to snare more at the finish line.
It was a sprint that would have to go extremely well for Mohorič, though, as only the ten-second bonus that came with first place or six seconds that went with the runner up position would be enough to seal overall victory. And then only if Vingegaard was out of the bonuses.
In the end the tally fell in the Slovenian’s favour with Mohorič coming over the line second in Zagreb behind Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers), and Vingegaard was well out of the bonuses in 14th. That meant Mohorič sealed the win by a single second.
"I'm not a sprinter and I don't like to get involved in bunch sprints," Vingegaard said. “I would have loved to have won here, but it is what it is. Mohorič took enough bonus seconds today and he deserves it. This is also part of cycling.”
The CRO Race marked Vingegaard’s return to racing, 65 days after taking victory at the Tour de France. While the Danish rider didn’t manage to secure the overall, two stage victories and a strong overall have left him optimistic about what is ahead at Il Lombardia.
“I am happy and satisfied with the form this week,” said Vingegaard. “I look forward to next week. It's one of my big goals this season."
