Abu dhabi: Brandon McNulty produced an imperious solo ride on Croatia’s east coast to win stage 4 of the CRO Race and claim the overall leader’s jersey. The American rider of UAE Team Emirates-XRG attacked on the penultimate climb and rode alone to the finish in Labin, securing the team’s 87th win of the season.
According to Emirates News Agency, McNulty, 27, who recently triumphed at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montr©al and the Sk¶da Tour de Luxembourg, added another milestone victory as he crossed the line more than a minute ahead of his rivals. With two stages remaining, McNulty leads the general classification by 1 minute and 39 seconds over Edoardo Zambanini. He also tops the King of the Mountains standings.
The stage unfolded with a four-rider breakaway early on, but UAE Team Emirates-XRG controlled the peloton. On the 11.3km Poklon climb, Rune Herregodts set a fierce tempo before Julius Johansen and Tim Wellens positioned McNulty for intermediate sprint bonus seconds in Kr…¡an. Wellens then drove the pace on the 3.4km penultimate ascent at 11.1 percent gradient, stringing out the group and enabling McNulty to launch his decisive attack with 23.9km to go. The American quickly opened a decisive gap and extended it to 1 minute 40 seconds by the finish line.
Speaking afterwards, McNulty said the strategy had been clear from the start. McNulty said, ‘We knew this climb was super steep and decisive, so the team kept everything controlled and I gave everything I had there. I suffered a bit to the finish but that was the plan. It is easier than last year because then we had less gap and bonus seconds. With over a minute advantage, things are more comfortable, so hopefully everything goes smoothly until the end.’
