The second stage of the CRO Race was claimed by... Paul Magnier. Again in the second day of the Croatian stage race, there was little the Frenchman could be done to stop, as he has been racking up victories in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, the second stage was shortened to 51 kilometers due to strong winds. Initially, the stage was supposed to go to Novalja, but because the peloton had to cross a bridge near the end, the organizers decided it was safer to cut out the final sixty kilometers of the stage.
So, the stage took the peloton from the start in Biograd na Moru to Jovići on Wednesday. The finish was atop a third-category climb (7.9 kilometers at 2.1%).
Not much happened during the stage. A breakaway with Alex Molenaar, Artur Sowinski, Domen Oblak, and Dan Tomsic gained about a minute on the peloton, but everything came back together in the final ten kilometers. In the last kilometer, there was another attack attempt, but the control from big teams like Soudal Quick-Step and UAE Emirates XRG was too strong.
so, it came down to a sprint. Magnier took the win on the climb—even though he got boxed in—and as a result, he will start the third stage on Thursday as the leader of the CRO Race.
🚴🇭🇷 | Paul Magnier certainly had a tough time in the last meters, but he finished it with a rare display of power in the second stage of the #CRORace! 👏👏
📺 Stream the race on HBO Max pic.twitter.com/Sl1KlonnIL
— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) October 1, 2025
CRO Race| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01:04:55 | |
| 2 | " | |
| 3 | " | |
| 4 | " | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | " | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | " |
