Lotto-Belisol’s Jonas Van Genechten won stage 4 of this year’s Tour of Poland today, in a sprint finish, after 236 kilometers of racing from Tarnow to Katowice.
Meanwhile, Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana) and Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) finished just behind the Belgian rider in second and third place respectively.
Race Highlights
A breakaway group containing Alexander Rybakov (Katusha), Boris Vallee (Lotto-Belisol), Jérôme Cousin (Europcar), Branislau Samoilau (CCC Polsat-Polkowice), and Andrey Solomennikov (RusVelo), got underway early on today’s stage. And, at one point, the escapees built up an advantage of almost three minutes over the peloton. However, by the time the race reached the first feed zone, the breakaway group had been absorbed back into the main field.
A subsequent breakaway group, containing Josh Edmondson (Sky), Matthias Krizek (Cannondale), and Mateusz Taciak (CCC Polsat-Polkowice), was the next to form. However, under the close watch of the peloton, their advantage never grew beyond a minute or two.
With 40 kilometers remaining, Jérôme Cousin (Europcar) and Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Bauknecht-Author) attacked from amongst the ranks of the peloton – and eventually bridged themselves to the breakaway trio.
However, as the race entered into the final 12 kilometers, the five escapees were caught by the peloton.
From there, the field started shaping up for a sprint finale, with Van Genechten emerging as the fastest rider – as the race hit the final finishing circuit in Katowice.
In the meantime, Petr Vakoc (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) managed to finish safely in the peloton – to retain his grip on the overall race lead.
The Tour of Poland continues tomorrow, with no fewer than five categorized climbs, as riders cover 190 kilometers from Zakopane to Strbskie Pleso.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nDPy4UwB_0
Stage 4 Results BEL 1 VANGENECHTEN, Jonas (LOTTO BELISOL) 5:43:29 ITA 2 GUARNIERI, Jacopo (ASTANA) SLO 3 MEZGEC, Luka (GIANT-SHIMANO) ITA 4 MODOLO, Sacha (LAMPRE – MERIDA) BLR 5 HUTAROVICH, Yauheni (AG2R LA MONDIALE) ITA 6 APPOLLONIO, Davide (AG2R LA MONDIALE) NED 7 KREDER, Raymond (GARMIN SHARP) GER 8 ARNDT, Nikias (GIANT-SHIMANO) BEL 9 MAES, Nikolas (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) AUS 10 VON HOFF, Steele (GARMIN SHARP) AUS 11 MATTHEWS, Michael (ORICA GreenEDGE) RUS 12 KRITSKIY, Timofey (RUSVELO) RUS 13 MAIKIN, Roman (RUSVELO) ITA 14 GATTO, Oscar (CANNONDALE) DEN 15 LANDER, Sebastian (BMC RACING) ESP 16 LOBATO DEL VALLE, Juan Jose (MOVISTAR) NED 17 BOS, Theo (BELKIN) ITA 18 BALYKIN, Ivan (RUSVELO) POL 19 STEPNIAK, Grzegorz (CCC POLSAT POLKOWICE) NOR 20 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (SKY)
General Classification after Stage 4 CZE 1 VAKOC, Petr (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) 20:34:24 AUT 2 KRIZEK, Matthias (CANNONDALE) + 26 BLR 3 HUTAROVICH, Yauheni (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 27 NED 4 BOS, Theo (BELKIN) SLO 5 MEZGEC, Luka (GIANT-SHIMANO) BEL 6 VANGENECHTEN, Jonas (LOTTO BELISOL) RUS 7 MAIKIN, Roman (RUSVELO) + 31 BEL 8 VALLEE, Boris (LOTTO BELISOL) + 33 ITA 9 MORI, Manuele (LAMPRE – MERIDA) POL 10 PATERSKI, Maciej (CCC POLSAT POLKOWICE) + 35
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