Brandon McNulty keeps Cro Race lead as Tobias Lund Andresen wins atop steep cobbled climb

Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL took a strong win today at the Cro Race. Sprinter Tobias Lund Andresen paced perfectly up the final steep cobbled climb to take a spectacular win as others exploded in the final meters. Brandon McNulty was attacked but remained in the race lead.

The fourth day of racing was by many considered the queen stage ahead of the race. Hence there was tension at the start of the day... A breakaway of five formed including Robert Stannard, Andreas Leknessund, Ryan Mullen, Hugo Aznar and Tim Marsman.

The quintet reached the main climb of the day with a heft lead, and a trio would go over the summit still in front whilst in the peloton the race exploded. UAE set a high pace to control the group and the race led by Brandon McNulty, but the American was put to the test as Pablo Castrillo recovered from yesterday's late crash and attacked twice, forming a small group but the race leader managed to respond strongly.

Over the summit he was in control of the situation; Filippo Ganna in the meantime crashed, and the peloton grew back in size. The last survivors of the breakaway were caught with 23 kilometers to go, but there was still room for the stage to change significantly. Castrillo did attempt a couple more times but it was a move from INEOS' Ben Turner inside the final 10 kilometers that threatened the stage win.

But the Briton was caught with 2 kilometers to go at the base of the final climb. The final climb was hard, but the steep cobbled ramp to the line meant there was only leadout into the final meters. McNulty picked it up with 500 meters to go but didn't have the legs then. Tobias Lund Andresen had already proved his great form, and here put in a massive effort in the final meters to take the stage win. Edoardo Zambanini finished second whilst Odd Christian Eiking was third. McNulty lost some seconds but maintained the race lead.