In Croatia, Teus Ruijter and Wim de Bruin got off to a good start on behalf of KMC on Tuesday with a fifth place in the prologue of the 4Islands stage race. During this five-day mountain bike race, each stage starts on a different island on the Adriatic coast. The prologue on the island of Krk was won by compatriot Hans Becking with his French teammate Hugo Drechou.
After the flying start, Ruijter and de Bruin were confronted with bad luck in the first stage, resulting in a lot of time loss and a twelfth place as a disappointing result behind the German winners Georg Egger and Lukas Baum. On the island of Rab, however, the sun began to shine again for the men. With the start from the ferry, the peloton set off for 76 kilometers and Ruijter and de Bruin recovered well with a sixth place. Georg Egger and Lukas Baum also won this stage.
The queen’s stage over 84 kilometers on the island of Cres also ended with a good sixth place. Egger-Baum managed to extend their lead in the general classification over Becking-Drechou with their third victory in a row. Ruijter and de Bruin now occupy sixth place in that ranking. They managed to hold on to this sixth place on the island of LoĊĦinj because the KMC duo also came in sixth in the final stage. The final classification went to Egger-Baum who left behind the duos Becking-Drechou and Alban Lakata and Simon Schneller.