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New Zealander Campbell Stewart (Jayco AlUla) sprinted to glory with a stunning dash to the line to make it a perfect end to the CRO Race in Zagreb for the Australian WorldTour team as a battered Orluis Aular (Caja Rural) took out the race overall despite crashing in the final 200 metres of the stage.
Aular loomed up to be a contender for the stage win with some superb handling through the final corners with 400 metres to go, but as Bahrain Victorious leadout rider Niccolo Burratti drifted wide to allow teammate Matevz Govekar to sprint, he became entangled with Aular, seeing the Venezuelan crash hard.
Meanwhile, in the sprint, Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) hit out hard for the finish, with a win and the bonus seconds set to secure him the overall victory at the CRO Race. However, Campbell Stewart came past his experienced Norwegian rival with an impressive turn of pace to win comfortably.
The 25-year-old Stewart had showcased his turn of speed throughout the six days of racing but was yet to have a clear run to the finish line. However, Stewart finally negotiated the chaos and sharp turns of the finale and delivered his first win on the sixth and final stage, avoiding the carnage around him to sneak through a gap and take what is also his debut victory for the team.
“We’ve been trying all week [to win a stage], we came here with hopes of me getting a stage and then also Eddie [Dunbar] for the GC,” said Stewart.
“The GC turned out to be sort of sprinters or an intermediate kind of race, so we were searching for wins and we eventually got there on the last day. It's been awesome and it’s been a great way to wrap up the season here in Croatia!”
Aular, an emphatic victor in the bunch sprint on stage 5, began the final day with a lead of 9 seconds on the Ineos duo of Ethan Hayter and Magnus Sheffield, with 12 seconds to Kristoff.
That lead slimmed dramatically at the first intermediate sprint, where Kristoff picked up three bonus seconds and Hayter took two, setting up the final sprint of the CRO race to be for both the stage win and the overall title.
In the end, it was an unlikely saviour for Aular in Stewart, as the New Zealander beat Kristoff to deny him the full 10 seconds bonus, which would have put him into the race lead by a single second.
