CRO Race 2024 Stage 5

October 5, 2024 Flooding on the route caused the organizers to shorten the stage to just over 100KM. The rain was still falling but the remaining route was generally flat and would likely end in a bunch sprint. Jordan Habets of Metec-SOLARWATT, Charles Paige of TDT-Unibet, and Tomasz Budziński of Mazowsze Serce Polski formed the break of the day. DSM-Firmenich took control of the peloton and had the three leaders at around 1 minute with 76KM to go. DSM-Firmenich brought the break back just before the bonus second Intermediate Sprint to set up their riders to grab time for the GC. Juan Sebastián Molano of UAE put in great team work and took the 3 seconds to defend GC. Tim Marsman of Metec-SOLARWATT and Jelle Johannink of TDT-Unibet attacked after the sprint but DSM-Firmenich quickly shut it down and the race was all together at 55KM from the line. Tobias Lund Andresen of DSM-Firmenich grabbed three seconds at the next sprint with 44KM to go. Johannink was at it again with 38KM to go but this time was off alone. He would be caught at the base of the categorized climb with 24KM to go but no other attacks went. DSM-Firmenich took over again and led the entire way into last 9KM until the final bonus sprint. Andresen picked up 3 seconds with Fred Wright of Bahrain-Victorious taking two. Coming into the finale, Uno-X Mobility did the perfect lead out and kept Alexander Kristoff in the slipstream until 180M from the line. He held the barrier to his left side and won by half a bike length. Oded Kogut of Israel-Premier Tech took second with Giovanni Lonardi of Polti Kometa in third. With the bonus seconds taken into account, Andresen now sits just 14 seconds behind Brandon McNulty of UAE in GC with one stage remaining.