Riccardo Zoidl (Trek) finally lived up to his huge potential after joining the WorldTour by claiming an impressive solo win in the Tour of Croatia queen stage. Having attacked from a four-rider lead group less than 2km from the top of the final climb of Ucka, he put 28 seconds into Matija Kvasina (Synergy Baku) and Victor De La Parte (CCC) to take his first international win for Trek. Kvasina took the overall lead with a 19-second advantage over Zoidl.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Riccardo Zoidl pleased to leave bad luck behind with big win Croatian mountains

Riccardo Zoidl continued Trek-Segafredo's dominance in the Tour of Croatia with the team's third victory as he out-paced everyone on a tough finish climb to claim the win in the fourth stage.

 

"This victory means a lot for me because this year I had a lot of troubles at the beginning of the season," said Zoidl, referring to his crash at the team's first training camp where he broke his collarbone. "Then just to continue with this victory, we have already two, is incredible. Thanks to the team, they rode amazing in the last 50 kilometers. I am very happy about the win!"

 

It was another cohesive effort by Trek-Segafredo as race leader Giacomo Nizzolo –  already with two wins and a second place – pulled at the head of the peloton ahead of the looming mountain finish, before Eugenio Alafaci, Edward Theuns, and finally Gregory Rast paced the team's two climbers, Julian Arredondo and Riccardo Zoidl, to the foot of the 20-kilometer ascent.

 

The peloton easily swallowed the day's eight-man breakaway, and the steep gradients of the long climb soon pared down its numbers to 14 with seven kilometers remaining. Arredondo and Zoidl ignored the few early attacks; instead they played a cool and calculated climbing game that paid off in the end.

 

Five kilometers from the top, Zoidl accelerated and the group split with three leaders surging ahead. Zoidl's final blow came with two kilometers to go. This time, no one could respond and Zoidl opened a gap that he held to the line to take the win by 28 seconds over Matija Kvasina (Synergy Baku Cycling Project).

 

Kvasina will wear the leader's jersey into the 40-kilometer team time trial tomorrow, after Zoidl lost time in stage two, a result of a late crash splitting the peloton. Zoidl sits in second place at 19 seconds.

 

Zoidl said: "I knew the climb was very long and that you have to pace it and wait and wait, and Dirk (Demol, director) told me to wait until the last moment. With five kilometers to go, I was feeling good and I knew I had to do something so I tried to split it a little bit and then we were three guys.

 

"I knew the guys I was with very well and I could see that they were not feeling super. I felt good so I decided to go early – at 2kms to go – and yeah, it worked out. It's an amazing day for me.

 

"It's was a pity that I lost 50 seconds on the second stage with the crash, but after two victories and now today we are really motivated and we will go full gas tomorrow and we will see."

 

"Our plan was to not defend the jersey, so we sent riders up road and Julien Bernard was in an early breakaway," added Dirk Demol. "Later we worked to control with Tinkoff because we believed that Riccardo could make a great result today. Although it was tricky when you don't know all the riders here and how they will go, but in last 3-4 kms we saw Riccardo was the strongest. I am really happy for him, he has had bad luck with two broken collarbones, so this is good for his morale and to show he is ready ahead of the Giro."

 

Local rider moves into the race lead with great ride in Croatian queen stage

Matija Kvasina has taken the lead in the Tour of Croatia with a second place finish on the race’s queen stage. He takes a 19 second advantage going into the final two stages of his homeland race.

 

A break group was gone for most of the stage, but was caught on the final climb, a long climb with several steep stretches. Kvasina was in the chase group which was gradually whittled down to a small chase group. Kirill Pozdnyakov put in a very strong performance, not only supporting his teammate, but pulling the group up the mountain for many kilometers.

 

Near the end, the lead group had been reducade to three riders, including the Synergy Baku Croatian. Eventual stage winner Riccardo Zoidl of Trek-Segafredo pulled away near the end and Kvasina continued to make his way up, crossing the finish line 28 seconds later, more than enough time to put him in the leader’s jersey.

 

“On paper Baku is just a small team, but we have proven that with teamwork we can achieve great results. It is a small team with a huge heart and soul. Nothing would have been possible today without this amazing team,” Kvasina said.

 

“Special thanks to Kirill, who gave his best for me the whole day and in crucial moments. I am forever thankful and hope that I can return the favor to the whole team.

 

“It is nice to lead my homeland race and we will fight for it until the end.”

 

“We have the leader’s jersey after the Queen stage. All the guys did a great job,” said DS Andrej Hauptman. “Matija had Kirill with him the last 10 km, that was all the support he needed.”

 

“We have shown that we are a great team.”

 

Tour of Austria winner proves his class in Croatian queen stage

For CCC, Victor de la Parte finished the queen stage of Tour of Croatia in 3rd place. Felix Grossschartner also delivered solid performance by taking 7th. Both of them are now sitting in  the top 5 of the general classifcation. 

“It was very hard stage, but the team did a great job right from the start. I knew that the final ascent suited me, since it was long and steep. I attacked a few times and maybe I did it too soon. It was my first time on that climb and I didn’t know it very well. In the end, when Zoidl took off I tried to follow him, but he was just too strong,” Victor de la Parte said afterwards.

 

”Before the start we decided that Felix would be the team’s leader for that stage, since he was ranked higher than me in the GC, but during the climb we talked and since I felt very well, we agreed to change the strategy. Eventually we both finished in the top 10 and now we are sitting in 4th and 5th in the GC.

 

”Tomorrow is a very important day. I believe that we have very strong team for the TTT and we are capable of finishing the race on the podium in the overall standings.

 

”It’s a very nice feeling to finally deliver a good result for the team. I felt strong early in the season, but during Ruta del Sol I got sick and couldn’t really take advantage of my good shape. Now I’m back in form and want to keep improving to be ready for Tour de Suisse and Tour of Poland.”

 

CCC Sprandi Polkowice kicked off the ascent at the head of the pack. The strong pace set by the riders in orange whittled down the field and last year’s race winner Maciej Paterski did most of the work in the first part of the climb and was the one who led the chase when the breakaway got caught.

 

After Paterski’s selection, the leading group included 25 riders. Among them there were two CCC Sprandi Polkowice representatives – Victor de la Parte and Felix Grossschartner. They both looked comfortable and both tried to shake things up with accelerations.

 

With 3 kilometers to go the decisive attack was launched. Riccardo Zoidl (Trek – Segafredo) pulled away and only De la Parte, alongside Matija Kvasina (Synergy Baku Cycling Project), was able to respond. Jesper Hansen (Tinkoff) and Radoslaw Rogina (Adria Mobil) were trying to bridge the gap and eventually the former managed to join the trio.

 

He didn’t stay with the leaders too long though, since Zoidl put the hammer down with 1km remaining. The CCC Sprandi Polkowice rider tried to follow but his  legs were not strong enough after such a hard stage to compete against the Austrian.

 

Zoidl reached the summit in first place 28 seconds ahead of Kvasina and De la Parte, who claimed his first podium for the orange squad in the UCI race in the 2016 season. Also Grossschartner put in a solid climbing performance by taking 7th place.

 

Two orange duo is now 4th and 5th in the overall standings respectively (53 and 56 seconds behind). Tomorrow’s team time trial will be crucial for the Polkowice-based squad, in terms of climbing onto the final podium. CCC Sprandi Polkowice will have to make up 27 seconds on Adria Mobil to secure top 3.

 

Jesper Hansen puts in big fight to take fourth in Croatian queen stage

After the first three stages ended in sprints, there was no chance of this on stage 4 of the Tour of Croatia. With demanding climbs throughout the day and a gruelling mountaintop finish, this was the day the climbers would take centre stage. After a brave ride that saw Jesper Hansen staying in touch with the front of the race throughout the final climb, the Danish rider crossed the line in fourth position. Hansen moves to sixth in the GC ahead of tomorrow’s Team Time Trial.

 

A relatively short stage at 122.1km, but as the race’s Queen Stage, it was by far and away the hardest. A glimpse at the profile saw it dominated by the final climb of the day – the Vojak, on the Učka range – which dwarfed the rest of the day’s climbs. With gradients of up to 18% in the final 8km, this was to be the deciding climb of the race.

 

Today’s stage was all about teamwork, as Technical Co-ordinator, Ivan Basso, explained from the finish.

 

“The plan was to divide the work between the guys as a group, and to ride from the start to control and to set the race up for Jesper. The fast guys, Erik Baška and Michael Kolar, tried to help at the start before joining the large group of sprinters at the back of the race, to save their energy for Sunday. Then the others tried to go with the breaks, and setting up Segio Paulinho, Jay McCarthy and Jesper Hansen for the final climb. Sergio did a great job to protect the last two and then Jay pulled amazingly on the climb before it was over to Jesper.”

 

As the race climbed the Vojak, Jay McCarthy was at the front of the group of 24 riders out in front, with Hansen a few places behind him. Exactly on the 10km to go mark, the attacks started, but Tinkoff’s two at the front quickly got on the attackers’ wheels and kept them in check. Hansen stayed on the front but at this point, the effects of McCarthy’s earlier efforts saw him nearly lose the group.

The kilometres crept by slowly – testament to the difficulty of the climb – but a solo breakaway had managed to escape twenty seconds up the road. Behind the break, the chasing group was reduced to fifteen riders, but Hansen was holding on, keeping in touch with the lead as it was gradually brought back in, as one of five riders at the front with just a few kilometres to go, he was looking relaxed, hiding his effort well.

 

With the finish nearing, Hansen put in a huge effort for the last two kilometres, trying to gain some time and reduce losses to the attacking group. With a kilometre left, he was in sight of the leaders, bridging the gap and leaving the last of the chasing group behind, but the effort to bridge put him in the red, as another attack came from the lead group of three as soon as he caught them, stringing out the group, leaving Hansen in fourth and unable to follow immediately. In spite of this, seconds later Hansen was back on the two chasers, finishing thirty-four seconds down on the stage winner, and only six seconds behind the two chasers.

 

It was a brave ride and saw the Danish rider fight until the very end, never giving up, even after working to catch the chasing group on a few occasions. Basso was thrilled with the outcome.

 

“We are so happy today with the team’s commitment and spirit, and Jesper fighting right to the end. I think that he did a great ride and kept fighting until the finish line. When the team ride like they did today I’m very happy – it’s our philosophy to race like this, and it’s great to see the fluro jerseys at the front.”

 

After an excellent performance today, Basso was looking to Sunday’s final stage and the likely sprint finish, after tomorrow’s Team Time Trial.

 

“We’ll take it day by day still and hopefully we can have a good ride tomorrow before going for the sprint again on Sunday. I must also say thank you to all the staff and riders here for their spirit and commitment to the team effort.”

 

IAM climber bounces bad from bad luck with solid showing in Croatian mountains

Caught up in a high-speed crash close to the finish of the third stage, Jonathan Fumeaux was able to pick himself up and be ready to ride hi shardest during the mountain stage in Croatia. 

 

“Finishing thirteenth is not the result I wanted or expected.  But after crashing yesterday, I can be pretty satisfied with the way I rode and where I ended up today.  Iwent in a breakaway that formed early in the stage.  After a few kilometers we were joined by another group of riders, which notably also included Sondre Holst Enger.  I probably wasted some energy in this exploit, but it could have been worth it.  Sondre also tried his own attack with nine kilometers to go, but he didn’t have enough kick to make it stick.  Then the team kept me very well placed at the front.  Leigh Howard and Marcel Aregger have been invaluable help.  On the last climb, I managed to stay with the front group until about three kilometers to go.  I really tried everything, gave everything.”

 

“I came with a view to place well in the general classification,” Fumeaux continued.  “In my heart, I was hoping for a top-10.  And when I see where I am in the current ranking, I believe that it was well within my capabilities.  Unfortunately, I had a lot of bad luck.  I lost 50 seconds on the second stage because I was caught behind a crash.  And then my own crash yesterday cost me almost five minutes.  My lucky star did not travel with me to Croatia it seems.”

 

The collective effort facing IAM Cycling on Saturday will last 40.3 kilometers.  Even without a general classification place to defend, the Swiss professional team intends to put in its strongest possible performance. 

 

“This team time trial we definitely intend to ride à bloc,” Fumeaux insisted.  “On the one hand, it is always a good discipline to practice.  And then on the other hand, we have a team that is capable of putting in a strong time.  Although we don’t have all the specialists with us, the sprinters can certainly lay down a good tempo.  A top-5 seems within reach.”

 

After finishing in third place yesterday, Italian sprinter Matteo Pelucchi was unable to make it to the finish in time on Friday.  The mountainous profile and the summit finish were worthy of the hardest Alpine stages, andPelucchi, along with eight other riders, finished outside the time limit.

 

Difficult day for ONE Pro Cycling in Croatian queen stage

The peloton ramped up the pace from the gun as riders aimed to secure a place in an early breakaway. After only 8km of racing ONE’s Yanto Barker got into a move with 25 riders, managing to stay away for a short period of time before the peloton closed it down.

 

Faced with a number of climbs and a high tempo in the peloton, many riders found themselves in trouble within the first 15km of racing with small groups peeling off the back of the main bunch. Following the descent off the second climb of the day, a small group of 7 riders went clear including James Oram. The moved must have seemed like a good opportunity as it attracted several other riders who tried to jump across. The sudden interest forced Tinkoff to chase hard on the front bringing the break back on the first KOM climb of the day.

 

The queen stage continued to take its toll as the peloton was whittled down to around just 60 riders. After a long 15km descent following the first KOM competition a group of 8 riders went clear, seeing the danger James Oram forced himself into a 4 man chase group, although decided after just a few km to return to the peloton and prepare for the final climb.

 

Trek rode really hard at the front of the peloton to bring the breakaway back as the gap had reached 2 minutes 30 seconds. At this stage James Oram, Karol Domagalski and Richard Handley were all placed nicely in the peloton and after a 20km flat out chase through the valley the peloton caught the breakaway as they hit the bottom of the final climb.

 

25km in length the final climb boasted a steep gradient from the bottom, causing several riders to be dropped almost immediately by the small group. The next hour of climbing proved to be quite intense, feeling the pressure Karol Domagalaki and James Oram found the pace a little too quick and dropped out of the leading peloton. Meanwhile Richard Handley dug deep and fought to remain with the front group of about 20 riders, but after several hard attacks he finally tailed off with 6km to go leaving him to solo his way to the finish line in 19th place. Oram and Domagalski both rode a solid final climb to finish in the Top 30 with Richard Handley now sitting 18th overall going into tomorrow’s team time trial.

 

Alessandro Vanotti back in action after bad crash in December

“It is my first race in this year. I crashed in December during the first training camp in Calpe, it was a very dangerous crash for my legs. I spent December and January without riding and started to train only in February. I also had physiotherapy in February and March and did a lot of training - about 5-6 hours per day,” said Astana’s Alessandro Vanotti after 4th stage of Tour of Croatia.

 

Alessandro Vanotti and his teammates finished the hardest stage of Tour of Croatia at their own pace in order to avoid any risks and save energy to work for team leader Andrea Guardini.

 

“My condition is increasing and I think I have fully recovered. I’m happy to race here in Croatia and feel confident for my next races,” added Vanotti.

 

Novo Nordisk climber on the attack in Croatian mountains

A group of 6 riders managed pulled away at the race’s category climb, with Team Novo Nordisk’s Javier Megias among them. The group gained a maximum advantage of 2:00 minutes, but the peloton, led by Trek-Segafredo, was determined to reel them in before the before the final climb, and the break was caught as a diminished group approached the final climb.

 

“Javier shifted to a regular pace after he was caught on the last climb,” Team Novo Nordisk Sport Director, Pavel Cherkasov said, “but David Lozano and Charles Planet continued to ride well together, and David worked to help Charles to battle it out for GC, which was not easy on the steep, long climb.”

 

Approximatley 5km from the summit finish, Trek-Segafredo’s Riccardo Ziodl made a solo attack and was able to hang on to win the stage 28 seconds ahead of Matija Kvasina (Synergy Baku Cycling Project). Planet and Lozano finished together at 36th and 37th respectively, while Megias finished solo behind them at 49th.

 

“The race was really fast from the gun,” Megias said, “and the attacks never stopped. I was really determined to get into the big groups. Our tactic was wait to the final climb, but a race like today’s is a lottery; so when I saw my chance to get in the break, I took it. And although I was caught, I feel good about the day and more confident for the future.”

 

Dimension Data target top result in Tour of Croatia team time trial

With Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka sending a sprint squad to the Tour of Croatia, today was never going to be a day for the African Team. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and Nic Dougall would test the legs to see what was possible, and both riders were part of the reduced peloton that started the final climb together.

 

With a number of strong climbers at the race, it was not possible for the South African talents to follow the climbers up the climb to Ucka. Instead, it became a day of saving the legs for the Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka riders with the goal of targeting a top result at tomorrow's 40km team time trial.

 

Sports director Alex Sans Vega said:
 

“Even though today wasn't really for us, we still wanted to be part of the race. In the beginning of the stage there was a big group of 21 riders that got away. Mark Cavendish was in the group for us and he won the first intermediate sprint. On the first category one climb a new break formed of 8 riders. Trek and Tinkoff controlled it so it was then all up to the final climb. Reinardt wanted to give the the final climb a try but it wasn't for him and he got dropped. Tomorrow is the team time trial, we are focused on it and we want do well. We will be one of the first teams to start so we won’t have any time checks but I am confident we will do well and we will be one of of the fastest teams at the finish.”