The 2018 Istrian Spring Trophy was the 58th edition of the

Istrian Spring Trophy Istrian Spring Trophy ( hr, Istarsko proljeće) is a stage road bicycle race held annually in the Croatian part of the Istria peninsula. The race was first organized in 1961 as a small competition reserved to local cyclists. In 2000, it was opened ...

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws as ...

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

. It was part of

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

in category 2.2.

Teams

Twenty-nine teams were invited to take part in the race. These included twenty-eight

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world gove ...

teams and one national team.

Route

Stages

Prologue

;8 March 2018 —

Umag Umag (; it, Umago) is a coastal town in Istria, Croatia. Geography It is the westernmost town of Croatia, and it includes Bašanija, the westernmost point of Croatia. Population Umag has a population of 7,281, with a total municipal populatio ...

Stage 1

;9 March 2018 —

Poreč Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, wh ...

Labin Labin ( Italian/ Istriot: Albona) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, with a town population of 5,806 (2021) and 10,424 in the greater municipality (which also includes the small towns of Rabac and Vinež, as well as a number of smaller villages). ...

Stage 2

;10 March 2018 —

Vrsar Vrsar ( vec, Orsera) is a small seaside town and a municipality in Istria, Croatia located 9 kilometers south of Poreč. The historical center is located on top of a hill, including the St. Martin parish church and the 40-meter high bell tower. I ...

Oprtalj Oprtalj ( it, Portole) is a village and municipality in Istria, Croatia. Oprtalj is a community in the central northern part of Istria County, situated across the Mirna river valley from the village of Motovun, about 20 km northwest of Pazin ...

Stage 3

;11 March 2018 —

Pazin Pazin ( it, Pisino, german: Mitterburg) is a town in western Croatia, the administrative seat of Istria County. It is known for the medieval Pazin Castle, the former residence of the Istrian margraves. Geography The town had a population of 8, ...

Classification leadership table

In the 2018 Istrian Spring Trophy, three different jerseys were awarded for the main classifications. For the

general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...

, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2018 Istrian Spring Trophy, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race. Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a blue jersey. In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 3 in each intermediate sprint. For winning an intermediate sprint, a rider earned 5 points, with 3 for second and 1 for third. There was also a

mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...

, the leadership of which was marked by a green jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.

References

{{reflist, 30em 2018 UCI Europe Tour 2018 in Croatian sport Cycle races in Croatia