CRO Race: Juan Sebastian Molano wins stage 2 sprint

Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) took his first win of the season on stage 2 of the CRO Race, after threading the needle in the bunch sprint and overpowering Giovanni Lonardi (Polti-Kometa) to the line in Novalja.

Molano was latched onto the back wheel of Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) before he launched his effort as Polti-Kometa and Bahrain-Victorious led things out, eventually kicking away easily from the Australian and past Lonardi who took second.

A frustrated Welsford was resigned to third in the sprint and had to stop his effort after trying to go up the inside of Lonardi on the barriers, with race leader Alexander Kristoff crossing the line close behind in fifth.

The six bonus seconds gained by Lonardi thanks to his second-place finish saw him jump past the Norwegian for the overall lead of the race heading into stage 3, a hillier 154km day from Otočac to Opatija.

More to come.

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