2021 CRO Race

Twenty teams were invited to start the race. These included four UCI WorldTeams, seven UCI Professional Continental teams and nine UCI Continental teams.[2]

The race is scheduled for 1,082 kilometres (672 miles) and 6 stages.[3]

Stage schedule

Stage	Date	Route	Distance	Type		Winner
1	28 September	Osijek to Varaždin	237 km (147.3 mi)		Flat stage	Phil Bauhaus (GER)
2	29 September	Slunj to Otočac	187 km (116.2 mi)		Mountain stage	Olav Kooij (NED)
3	30 September	Primošten to Makarska	167 km (103.8 mi)		Hilly stage	Milan Menten (BEL)
4	1 October	Zadar to Crikvenica	197 km (122.4 mi)		Hilly stage	Olav Kooij (NED)
5	2 October	Rabac/Labin to Opatija	137.5 km (85.4 mi)		Mountain stage	Stephen Williams (GBR)
6	3 October	Samobor to Zagreb	156.5 km (97.2 mi)		Flat stage	Tim van Dijke (NED)

In the 2021 CRO Race, four different jerseys will be awarded. The general classification was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers at intermediate sprints (three seconds to first, two seconds to second and one second to third) and at the finish of mass-start stages; these were awarded to the first three finishers on all stages: the stage winner won a ten-second bonus, with six and four seconds for the second and third riders respectively. The leader of the classification received a red jersey; it was considered the most important of the 2021 CRO Race, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.

Additionally, there is a points classification, which awarded a blue jersey. In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 25 points, with 20 for second, 16 for third, 14 for fourth, 12 for fifth, 10 for sixth and a point fewer per place down to 1 point for 15th place. Points towards the classification could also be accrued – awarded on a 5–3–1 scale – at intermediate sprint points during each stage; these intermediate sprints also offered bonus seconds towards the general classification as noted above.

There is also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a green jersey. In the mountains classification, points towards the classification were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized as either hors, second, or third-category, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs.

The fourth and final jersey represented the classification for young riders, marked by a white jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1999 were eligible to be ranked in the classification. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Young rider classification	Team classification
1	Phil Bauhaus	Phil Bauhaus	Phil Bauhaus	Marceli Bogusławski	Olav Kooij	Team Jumbo–Visma
2	Olav Kooij	Olav Kooij	Olav Kooij	Marcin Budziński
3	Milan Menten	Milan Menten		Torstein Traeen	Mick Van Dijke
4	Olav Kooij	Anders Skaarseth
5	Stephen Williams	Stephen Williams		Simon Yates		Team Bahrain Victorious
6	Tim van Dijke
Final		Stephen Williams	Olav Kooij	Simon Yates	Mick Van Dijke	Team Bahrain Victorious

• Official website