Iuri Leitão won the 2nd stage of the CRO Race on Wednesday. The Portuguese cyclist defeated Elia Viviani and Alexander Kristoff with a long-range attack. “I decided to try early because I had the legs,” Leitão said in the post-race interview.
“It’s a big win for me and the whole team, as it’s against prominent WorldTour riders. I’m grateful to my team for the trust they placed in me, and I’m happy to have finally lived up to that trust,” Leitão stated.
The cyclist, who comes from a track cycling background, also indicated that the plan was for him to go for the sprint, not the team captain Orluis Aular. “That was the intention, yes. The team worked the entire stage to ensure I could be well-positioned at the front. On the climbs, I immediately felt that I was in good shape and still had some freshness in the last kilometers. That’s why I decided to try from a distance.”
The winner celebrates: