After a tight chase which saw a two-man breakaway survive into the final 300 metres, Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) stormed to victory from a bunch sprint to win stage 1 of the CRO Race in Seget Donji.
Axel van der Tuuk (Euskaltel Euskadi) and Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello Q36.5) attacked away in the last 20km, and after flying down the rapid descent into the finale, almost made it to the line, with the bunch just catching them in sight of the line.
Uno-X Mobility had led into the last 500 metres, but a perfectly-timed rush to the front from Ivo Oliveira delivered Molano into the front position with 150 metres to sprint.
Pre-stage favourite Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) was coming quickly from behind and threatening to snatch the victory, but he was blocked up the inside first by UAE, then again by Žak Eržen (Bahrain Victorious) as he tried to come out of the Colombian's slipstream.
In the end, Magnier's power still saw him finish second behind Molano, despite having to take several different lines to find a lane to sprint from, with Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) finishing third, and Eržen taking fourth on Tuesday.
The Colombian's success brought UAE Team Emirates-XRG their 74th victory of the 2026 season, and his second, adding to a stage he won at the Tour of Oman back in February.
Results
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Stage 1 Top 10
Position
Rider (Country) Team
Time Gap
1
Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
3:58:06
2
Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal-QuickStep
st
3
Tim Torn Teutenberg (Ger) Lidl-Trek
st
4
Žak Eržen (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
st
5
Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber
st
6
Sergi Darder Gari (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
st
7
Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
st
8
Matis Louvel (Fra) NSN Cycling Team
st
9
Brody Mcdonald (USA) Modern Adventure
st
10
Gabriele Bessega (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta
st
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James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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