The race helicopter getting far too close to the riders on the summit finish could not stop Irish man David McQuaid's Synergy Baku team taking the race lead at the Tour of Croatia.
Irishman David McQuaid was celebrating a huge milestone for his Synergy Baku team last night when one of his men took the race leader against WorldTour opposition at the Tour of Croatia.
But the riders at the head of affairs had more than each other and the summit finish to contend with.
At the end of Friday' queen stage the race's TV helicopter got far too close to the competitors.
As the clip below shows, the riders could be seen struggling against gusts generate by the chopper's propellers, with debris on the road being blown around hard.
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And when the chopper's downward thrust blew over large sections of crowd control barriers by the side of the road, the riders were very lucky to avoid them.
In the end, Riccardo Zoidl of Trek-Segafredo pulled away from the rest of the leading group to take a fantastic win on the summit, with Matija Kvasina of McQuaid’s team finishing 2nd on the day and taking the race lead.
It was a major achievement for Irishman McQuaid’s Synergy Baku; a Continental level team getting the better of some of the biggest outfits in the world including the likes of Trek-Segafredo, Dimension Data, Astana and Tinkoff.
Kvasina, riding his home tour, now has a 19 second lead going into the two final stages of the race.
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A breakaway had been clear for most of yesterday’s stage 4, but was caught on the final climb.
Kvasina was in the chase group which got smaller and smaller as the 22km ascent went on, thanks in no small part to Kirill Pozdnyakov of Synergy Baku pulling hard on the front.
And while eventual stage winner Zoidl would prove strongest of the handful of riders left standing at the very end, Kvasina was 2nd just 28 seconds down and took the race lead at the end of 122km from Crikvenica to Učka.
“On paper Baku is just a small team, but we have proven that with teamwork we can achieve great results," Kvasina said.
"It is a small team with a huge heart and soul. Nothing would have been possible today without this amazing team.
“Special thanks to Kirill, who gave his best for me the whole day and in crucial moments.
“I am forever thankful and hope that I can return the favour to the whole team. It is nice to lead my homeland race and we will fight for it until the end.”
Helicopter gets far too close
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