"We know the finish very well" - Matej Mohoric remains optimistic of defending CRO Race title ahead of Queen Stage

Matej Mohoric's defence of his CRO Race crown didn't get off to the best of starts, as the Slovenian lost time on the opening stage due to a late mechanical. Nevertheless, ahead of the Queen Stage of the race, Bahrain - Victorious remain optimistic in their leader.

“The way it pans out depends entirely on how the stage is ridden; if there is a big selection, we would hope to have at least three guys in the front group," previews Bahrain - Victorious' Sports Director Michal Golaś to his team's official website.

"We know the finish very well," Golas continues. "Both Matej and Fran Miholjević have trained on these roads many times, and Matej finished third in Labin last year. So we know it’s super hard, 300m uphill over the cobbles, but it suits Nicolò and Matej very well, and with Rainer Kepplinger also in good shape, we have a few cards we can play.”

Mohoric gained some time back on a few of his rivals on stage 3, finishing 3rd but he still has work to do if he wants to add a second GC victory at the CRO Race to his palmares. "Of course Matej might be a bit disappointed not to win, and perhaps he was just missing that little extra something," recaps Golas post-stage 3. "We were very close to victory today, but of course, we aim for more, and tomorrow, we try again to win the stage.”