Laurance wins stage 4 at CRO Race

Axel Laurance (B&B Hotels - KTM) wins stage 4 of the CRO Race 2022
Axel Laurance (B&B Hotels - KTM) wins stage 4 of the CRO Race 2022 (Image credit: SprintCyclingAgency)

Axel Laurance (B&B Hotels-KTM) won the hectic sprint in the rain on stage 4 of the CRO Race, holding off the Bahrain Victorious duo of race leader Jonathan Milan and Matej Mohorič at the line.

At the 500-metre mark, Milan slipped on the wet course in an attempt to avoid a crash with Sacha Modolo (Bardiani CSF Faizanè) and the Italian lost the wheel of his lead-out man Mohorič. While Milan clawed his way back through two more tight turns, the 21-year-old Laurance celebrated his first victory of the year.

Bonus seconds at the finish in Crikvenica gave Milan a little padding to continue for a fourth day in the GC lead, extending his advantage over Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) to 10 seconds. Mohorič was third overall on same time with Oscar Onley (Team DSM), 14 seconds back. Laurance moved to fifth on GC.

The damp roads reduced urgency in the peloton in closing kilometres in Crikvenica, as the rain created treachery with lots of crosswalk paint on the surface near the finish, distinguished by the three 90-degree turns in the closing 500 metres. It was that first sharp corner in the trio that proved decisive for Milan’s attempt to win a third stage in four days.

“It was really tricky, and really, really slippery in the rain. I tried to stay all the time in a good position on the final lap. In the corner, one guy just [fell]. I was in a good placement and I could come back to Mohoric. When I saw Mohoric just in front of me, I said, ‘OK, I’m faster and it’s my time’, so I give all for the finish line. I get my first win, so it’s incredible,” Laurance said.

Hitting the repeat button from the past three stages, Friday's stage saw a breakaway of six riders go clear and move to 3 minutes ahead of the peloton after the first 70 kilometres. Familiar faces in another break were Pawlak and Rainer Kepplinger (Hrinkow Advarics Cycleang), this time joined by Engenio Sánchez (Equipo Kern Pharma), Anže Skok (Ljubljana Gusto Santic), Kristjan Hočevar (Adria Mobile) and Linus Stari (Team Vorarlberg).

The peloton held a measured pace across the wet, technical corners of the final kilometres. While Bahrain managed to survive and maintain the overall race lead, B&B Hotels' young Frenchman stole the show at the finish.

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Jackie Tyson
North American Production editor

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).

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