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Eduard-Michael Grosu (Delko Marseille Provence) celebrates his victory (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Alex Edmondson (Mitchelton-Scott) leads the peloton home (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Grosu on the podium after his stage 2 win (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Israel Cycling Academy and Adria Mobil lead the peloton on stage 2 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Mitchelton-Scott ride at the head of the peloton (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Edmondson on the ground after his post-stage crash (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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Mattia Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) suffered a head wound in the crash just after the finish (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Eduard-Michael Grosu (Delko Marseille Provence) put in a late attack to clinch victory on stage 2 of the CRO Race, three seconds ahead of Alex Edmondson (Mitchelton-Scott) and Marko Kump (Adria Mobil), who rounded out the podium.

The Romanian took his fifth victory of the season from a reduced group of 35 riders on what was expected to be a sprint stage, though a mass crash in the peloton just 7km from the finish put paid to any hopes of a full bunch sprint.

With a ten-second bonus for winning the stage, plus the three seconds gained with his attack, Grosu now leads the race by five seconds from stage 1 winner Kump. Edmondon lies third overall, 13 seconds back, level with Yevgeniy Gidich (Astana).

After the finish, a spectator running on the road took out several riders, including Edmondson, Mattia Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Cyril Gautier (Total Direct Énergie). Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Merida) was also involved, and it later emerged that he would have to withdraw from the race before stage 3.

Brief results
Pos	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko Marseille Provence	4:24:39
2	Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott	0:00:03
3	Marko Kump (Slo) Adria Mobil
4	Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
5	Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Metec - TKH Continental Cyclingteam p/b Mantel
6	Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotels
7	Matej Mohorič (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
8	John Mandrysch (Ger) P&S Metalltechnik
9	Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani-CSF
10	Timon Loderer (Ger) Team Hrinkow Advarics Cycleang

General classification
Pos	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko Marseille Provence	8:51:52
2	Marko Kump (Slo) Adria Mobil	0:00:05
3	Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott	0:00:13
4	Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
5	Matej Mohorič (Slo) Bahrain-Merida	0:00:14
6	Alexis Guerin (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence	0:00:17
7	Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott	0:00:18
8	Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Metec - TKH Continental Cyclingteam p/b Mantel	0:00:19
9	John Mandrysch (Ger) P&S Metalltechnik
10	Cyril Gautier (Fra) Total Direct Énergie

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Daniel Ostanek

Daniel Ostanek has been a staff writer at Cyclingnews since August 2019, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later part-time production editor. Before Cyclingnews, he was published in numerous publications around the cycling world, including Procycling, CyclingWeekly, CyclingTips, Cyclist, and Rouleur, among others. As well as reporting and writing news and features, Daniel runs the 'How to watch' content throughout the season.

Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, and has interviewed a number of the sport's biggest stars, including Egan Bernal, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Mark Cavendish, and Anna van der Breggen. Daniel rides a 2002 Landbouwkrediet Colnago C40 and his favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Vuelta a España.