Kogut wins exhilarating final CRO Race: Lund Andresen falls just short of knocking McNulty off throne

Alexander Kristoff won the second-to-last stage and took his second win by defeating Oded Kogut. Sunday would, in all likelihood, end in another bunch sprint, and so the experienced Norwegian from Uno-X saw his chance again. Five riders decided to lead the day, including Dutchman Casper van der Woude (Metec—SOLARWATT p/b Mantel) and Brit Charlie Paige (TDT-Unibet).

However, the breakaway did not emerge before a big battle started just after the start. Indeed, there was already a sprint for bonification seconds. Because leader McNulty only had a fourteen-second lead over the fast Lund Andresen, the fight for the overall win was far from over. The Dane of dsm-firmenich PostNL immediately regained three seconds: the American leader did not interfere in the sprint.

So, after the early scramble, it was time for the breakaway riders, but they got a maximum of two minutes. The pace was swift: almost 50 kilometers per hour on average. Lund Andresen's team wanted to give their leader the best chance on the stage and the final race. There was another intermediate sprint where bonification seconds were available to win again. Thus, the adventure of the five at the front was over, with about 20 kilometers to go. The finale was held on a bizarre lap: up and down one road...

Catching back the early breakaway riders caused new attacks, which caused the frustration of Team DSM. They wanted to keep control of the little lap, but it was made difficult for them. Still, they managed to keep the peloton together, including the intermediate sprint, which their Danish sprinter won. Thus, he retained a chance to take the overall lead: should he win, he would also take over the leader's jersey.

The peloton seemed to be preparing for a bunch sprint, even though several teams wanted to disrupt that party. However, the sprint teams didn't fool around. Kristoff put his men to work in the finale, but Polti Kometa interfered in the chase. The best lead-out was for the 38-year-old Norwegian, who started the sprint at the head. However, Kogut managed to outsprint the Norwegian. So what didn't work yesterday did work today. Lund Andresen was out of the race: McNulty could also celebrate his final victory.