Results CRO Race 2026 Stage 1 - Juan Sebastian Molano denies Paul Magnier after late attackers caught inside final 500 metres
Cycling
Juan Sebastian Molano sprinted to victory on the opening stage of the 2026 CRO Race, beating defending Stage 1 winner Paul Magnier after a late two-man attack was finally shut down inside the final 500 metres in Seget Donji.
The UAE Team Emirates - XRG sprinter took his second career CRO Race stage victory and his first win since February, with Magnier forced to settle for second despite arriving as the standout favourite. Tim Torn Teutenberg completed the podium for Lidl-Trek.
The 167-kilometre opening stage from Split had initially been shaped by Sam Maisonobe, Gabriele Raccagni, Mihael Štajnar and Mateusz Kostański, who formed the day's main breakaway and spent much of the race around two minutes ahead of the peloton.
Soudal - Quick-Step and Uno-X Mobility controlled much of the pursuit before the quartet was caught with just over 30 kilometres remaining, opening the door for a more aggressive finale.
Axel van der Tuuk attacked inside the final 20 kilometres and was later joined by Sjoerd Bax. The pair still held around 15 seconds with nine kilometres to go, forcing Bahrain Victorious and UAE Team Emirates - XRG to commit to the chase.
Nils Politt was prominent on the front for UAE as the gap was steadily reduced. Van der Tuuk and Bax nevertheless carried their advantage deep into the finale before being swept up with only around 400 metres remaining.
Uno-X then launched the sprint through Erlend Blikra, but Molano emerged strongest in the final metres to beat Magnier and Teutenberg. Zak Eržen finished fourth ahead of Enrico Zanoncello, while GC contender Antonio Tiberi safely placed seventh. Molano also takes the first race lead of the 2026 edition.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- JV is really slighting himself with not doing the 1 dayers.. 🤷
leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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