The Croatian UCI 1.2-ranked race, the men’s Umag Classic, doesn’t often make the headlines, but Tuesday’s 14th edition threw up something notable – a tie for the win.
The one-day race, run on a hilly circuit in the Croatian coastal city of Umag, drew to a close after 142.3km yesterday, with two winners later sharing the top step of the podium.
Of the 155 riders from 28 teams that had competed in the race, it was Dušan Rajović (Solution Tech-Nippo-Rali) and Adam Bradáč (Factor Racing) who came out on top after just over three hours of action.
The pair led home a mass sprint finish ahead of Erik Fetter (United Shipping), with Rajović coming from behind as Bradáč sat up early to celebrate victory.
A careful study of the photo finish couldn’t separate the duo, and so both Bradáč and Rajović were declared winners.
The result meant that 19-year-old Bradáč managed to avoid the embarrassing fate that has befallen so many other early celebrators in the past, including Julian Alaphilippe at the 2020 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Lorena Wiebes at the 2024 Amstel Gold Race, and, most famously of all, Erik Zabel at the 2004 Milan-San Remo.
“I’m not sure what happened – I think I stopped pedalling a bit too early, and he quickly reached the finish line. In the end, we crossed the line at the same time,” Bradáč said later, while Rajović said he was thrilled with the shared result.
“In previous years, I won in Poreč and at one Istrian Spring Tour stage, so I’m thrilled to add this result to my record.”
The result is Rajović’s second victory of the season, with the Serb looking for a 2026 to take him beyond the 14 wins he racked up last year – a tally which saw him among the most successful riders of 2025.
“Everything still feels unreal – this was my…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…