McNulty Secures Stage 4 Victory and Overall lead at CRO Race with Dominant Solo Performance
SVETA NEDELJA, Croatia - Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) delivered a commanding solo performance to win Stage 4 of the 2025 CRO Race, extending his overall lead in the general classification. The American rider launched a decisive attack on a challenging ramp two kilometers from the summit, leaving only Michał Kwiatkowski, Filippo Zana, and Jakob ormzel able to respond. McNulty then powered away from this select group, riding the remaining 22km to the finish alone.
Despite the arduous, poorly surfaced ascent, McNulty reached the summit with a 30-second advantage over Zana and Ormzel, with the peloton fractured behind. He then leveraged his time trialling prowess on the subsequent descent and flatter roads, building a lead of 1:10. Limited cooperation within a chase group comprised of riders from Ineos Grenadiers and soudal-QuickStep further aided McNulty’s advantage.
McNulty continued to demonstrate strength on the final third-category climb at Labin, maintaining pace across the cobbles to secure his fifth win of the season and take the overall race lead.
Michał Kwiatkowski attempted to overtake simone Zambanini for second place in the final sprint, but Zambanini held off the Polish rider.
McNulty now leads the general classification by 1:39 over Zambanini. Stage 4 covered a distance from Karlovac to Sveta Nedelja. stage 5 promises potential GC battles with a category two climb near the finish.
results (via FirstCycling): [See embedded FirstCycling widget in original text]
