Starting the final stage of the CRO Race in equal second overall, eight seconds behind Tour de France reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard, Mohorič took the GC by just one second after winning the first intermediate sprint and then being supported by sprinter Jonathan Milan to finish second in the final bunch sprint behind Elia Viviani.
He took out the overall ahead of second-placed Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and seven seconds ahead of the third-placed Scotsman Oscar Onley (Team DSM).
Bahrain-Victorious showed early that they weren’t going to give up the fight for the GC and it was shown by the first intermediate sprint in Sveta Nedelja after only 3.4 kilometres, which was taken by Mohorič. With those three bonus seconds he reduced the gap behind Vingegaard to five seconds. The second-placed in Sveta Nedelja was Onley who reduced gap to Vingegaard from eight to six seconds, while the third-placed was Milan.
However, before the second intermediate sprint, which was located in Dugo Selo on the 71st kilometre of the stage, a breakaway of five riders was formed and they took bonuses in both intermediate sprints in Dugo Selo and Vrbovec, so Mohorič and Onley were unable to further reduce the gap behind Vingegaard.
It came right down to the wire, with the final sprint of the last 158-kilometre-long sixth stage from Sveta Nedelja to Zagreb the decisive moment in what was an attacking edition of the newly rated ProTour race.
Jonathan Milan already had two stage wins and a second place to his name for Bahrain Victorious, but he turned provider for Mohorič in the final lap of the Zagreb city circuit, controlling the front of the race, then leading out Mohorič in superb fashion to deliver the Slovenian with speed into the final 150 metres.
Mohorič didn’t have the same top speed as Elia Viviani (INEOS Grenadiers) but slotted in on the Italian’s slipstream and was able to take second, securing six bonus seconds off his general classification time and moving ahead of Vingegaard.
"This was the best sprint preparation we did this year. I'm extremely happy because this is only my second win of the season. It's good to end the season on a positive note", said stage winner Viviani.
Mohorič was very happy with the outcome in the last stage, talking about what the victory at the CRO Race meant to him.
"I fought until the last metre even though it seemed almost impossible to win in the GC,” said Mohorič. “In this race I also had an incredible team that made it possible for me. This victory means a lot to me because I had a lot of health problems in the middle of the season and now, I look forward with optimism to remaining races until the end of the year."
In addition to the red jersey for the overall winner, won by Mohorič, the Bahrain-Victorious took out the points jersey with Milan. Frenchman Alexis Guerin (Vorarlberg) won the green jersey for the best climber, while Onley won the white jersey sponsored by City of Zagreb as the best rider under 23 years old. The top squad in the teams classification at the CRO Race was INEOS Grenadiers.
The highest placed Australian in the general classification was Chris Hamilton (Team DSM), who rode an attacking race and finished ninth overall, a minute and 11 seconds behind Mohorič.
