CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious rider Fred Wright claimed an overall podium finish in the six-stage Cro Race, which came to a close yesterday in Croatia.
Wright took third place on the general classification (GC) to spearhead the results for the squad, which saw teammate Edoardo Zambanini finish just behind him in fourth overall.
Only one second separated the pair while Zambanini was only 28 seconds behind race winner Brandon McNulty of UAE Team Emirates.
From the first stage, which concluded inland from Split in the town of Sinj, Bahrain Victorious proved to be key contenders.
Young Italian Alberto Bruttomesso competed in the final sprint, though two competitors from rival teams edged him out. In the second stage, the team worked together again, bringing Italian Nicolo Buratti to the finish line, where he placed fourth. Zambanini crossed shortly after, continuing his fight for the overall classification.
The third stage was shortened to 89.5km due to strong winds and heavy rain, making it a critical stage for all cyclists to finish under tough conditions.
The queen stage came on day four, with 3,100 metres of elevation-gain through Ucka, showing who was likely to stand on the podium in Zagreb. Just before the finish line, Zambanini and Wright were overtaken by rival Lund Tobias Anderse, leaving them in second and fourth, respectively, for the stage, and third and fourth in the overall standings.
After the fifth stage, which was also shortened by 50km due to severe flooding, the standings remained unchanged.
The sixth and final stage took the cyclists from Sveta Nedelja to Zagreb, covering 157.5km with only one category three climb. During this stage, Wright gained a crucial bonus second, which secured his third overall, while Zambanini came right behind.
That one second proved vital in defending the team’s position against competitors seeking bonus seconds.
Overall, Bahrain Victorious executed all stages as planned, controlling the race throughout. While they came close to a stage win, it ultimately eluded them. Nevertheless, third and fourth in the GC was a strong result, and they also ranked second overall on the teams standings, behind only Team dsm-firmenich PostNL.
“It was nice for Zamba and me to be up there in the general classification,” Wright said. “In the end, I managed to pick up a second so I finished in third place.
“We can be really proud of how we rode overall in this race. I spent the whole race collecting bonus seconds.
“Today we had to make sure no one could jump us for the podium in the final, especially in that last bonus sprint.
“In the end, it was a good race. It’s a shame we didn’t get a stage win, but we raced well and I’m happy to have found some good legs at the end of the season.”
Bahrain Victorious sports director Borut Bozic added: “The plan was to win a stage, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. We were very close in the fourth stage.
“From the very beginning, we knew how important bonus seconds would be, so Fred took every chance he got. Zamba placed fourth, and Fred placed third in the end, which is a very good result, but we can always do better.”
&uuid=(email))