Two Soudal riders in the top ten on the exciting stage four.
Pula, home to one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world, built more than 2000 years ago, welcomed the CRO Race peloton for the first time since 2015, and the stunning ancient arena served as background for the start of the stage.
A 160km course awaited the riders, including the demanding climb up Učka, the toughest ascent of the week and the place where everybody knew the race was going to explode. That steep climb didn’t disappoint, only a handful of riders making it into a strong but select chasing group that set out in pursuit of the race’s lone leader. Louis Vervaeke, who had been active in the first part of the stage trying to go in the breakaway, was one of the four men there and helped the quartet extend their gap on the chasers while at the same time catching and passing Lennard Kamna (Lidl-Trek).
The new leaders could feel the peloton breathing down their necks but they continued to work well together, and kept an advantage of 20-odd seconds on the chasers. Inside the final kilometer, that gap was cut to only 10 seconds, but the attackers survived and got to fight for the win. Vervaeke produced a strong sprint despite facing cramps in the finale and crossed the line as runner-up, behind Daniel Martinez (Bora-hansgrohe), which netted him a second podium of the season, after the one he took on the penultimate stage of the Giro di Sardegna. A couple of seconds later, the main group arrived and Ilan Van Wilder took sixth.
I felt good today, had a plan and followed it.
“When the selection was made and we found ourselves in the lead, we were all committed to pulling hard and doing our best to hold off the chasers. Going into the sprint I had confidence in myself, but Martinez was faster. It’s a pity I had those cramps, it’s just the third time in my career that this happened to me, but it is as it is. At the end of the day it was a good stage for us with two guys in the top ten and Steff who remained ninth overall”, Louis said after his brave ride and podium finish.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
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