"On a climb like that, it’s really important to commit fully and give everything" - Matej Mohoric takes Queen Stage victory at the CRO Race after brutal final slope

There's something about the CRO Race that seems to bring the best out of Matej Mohoric. The Slovenian was overall winner at the race twelve months ago and this year took a very impressive victory on the Queen Stage.

“On a climb like that, it’s really important to commit fully and give everything all the way to the line, and that’s what I did," he told his Bahrain - Victorious team's website post-stage. “I have just been here on vacation. I was training on these roads every day, and I rode this climb twice a day for nine days, so I knew it pretty well! There aren’t so many roads here, so I did it over and over again!”

Although overall victory looks unlikely this year after Mohoric was caught up in a late crash on stage 1, a stage win means it's not been a fruitless race.

“We wanted to bounce back and show how committed we are as a team, even though things sometimes don’t go our way. Unfortunately, the crash of the guy in front of me on day one cost us the GC because I think otherwise we would have had a very good chance to win the race overall again," Mohoric explains. "But we didn’t lose our motivation, and it’s such an important value in life to remain determined and do your best even when you lose the chance to achieve your original objectives."