Olav Kooij victorious in Prudnik! Jonas Vingegaard still the leader!
The sprinting duel highlighted the fourth stage of the 81st Tour de Pologne. In Prudnik, amid thousands of cheering fans, Olav Kooij from Team Visma | Lease a Bike finished the best, defeating Sam Bennett from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and Mads Pedersen from Lidl-Trek.
As they bid farewell to Lower Silesia, the riders competing in the 81st Tour de Pologne faced a stage from Kudowa-Zdrój to Prudnik, a town in the Opole region that holds a special place in the history of Polish cycling. This is where the eminent cyclist Stanisław Szozda, an Olympic medalist, world championship medalist, and winner of the Peace Race and Tour de Pologne, spent most of his life.
Today’s stage, the longest in this year’s Tour de Pologne, began in the picturesque town of Kudowa-Zdrój, from where the cyclists set off over hilly terrain towards the finish line. On the first climb, Szymon Sajnok (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), the leader of the active cyclist classification for LOTTO, and Michał Paluta (Polish national team), who leads the PZU mountain classification, broke away from the peloton.
In pursuit, Polish champion Norbert Banaszek and Xabier Mikel Azparren (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) counter-attacked but failed to catch the leaders. The leaders battled at the intermediate sprints. In Bystrzyca Kłodzka, at the LOTTO sprint, Szymon Sajnok won a full set of points, and on the Przełęcz Jaworowa, at the PZU KOM sprint of the second category, Michał Paluta was the first to reach the summit.
“Today, it was quite easy to break away with Michał Paluta. We reached the first intermediate sprint smoothly, then the mountain sprint, and then our teammates from the Polish national team caught up with us. After that, our cooperation somehow didn’t work out, and the peloton caught up with us, and we calmly reached the finish line. My mom, my girlfriend, my in-laws, and my uncle were cheering for me at the finish,” Szymon Sajnok said.
“Yesterday, I was still planning for today’s stage to be somewhat regenerative. But we
decided that the PZU second category mountain sprint at the 77th kilometer was worth going for, and I wanted to win it. Even though we were only two in the breakaway, by working together, we reached that mountain sprint, and I managed to grab a full five points. Then I returned to the peloton and tried to conserve energy as much as possible to reach the finish line. While riding, I noticed banners with my name on them along the route, which I hadn’t seen before, so it was very nice. At the start in Wałbrzych, I even met my kindergarten teacher, which was an amazing experience,” said Michał Paluta, who retained the leader’s jersey in the mountain classification.
It was also interesting behind them, as Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) – last year’s Tour de Pologne winner – won a second of time bonus at the intermediate sprint, and on a categorized climb, Kacper Gieryk and Norbert Banaszek from the Polish national team broke away from the peloton. The youngest rider, Gieryk, showcased his active riding to the Polish public and attacked alone, winning the LOTTO sprints in Ząbkowice Śląskie and Otmuchów. Each time, Matej Mohoric finished in second place. Earlier, the special Soudal sprint was also held in Kamieniec Ząbkowicki, where Szymon Sajnok was the best.
The peloton controlled the breakaway and caught up with it a few dozen kilometers before the end of the race. As expected, after nearly 200 kilometers of racing, the sprinters battled for the win, and the best among them was the Dutchman Olav Kooij from Team Visma | Lease a Bike, who had already collected stage victories in previous years’ Tour de Pologne. In the past, he also won the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix.
“I always have good memories in Poland. It was nice to come back. We have a good team here with different goals, both GC and sprint. Racing in an environment like this, with different goals for everyone, allows everybody to be at a high level, really motivated to do well. I was really happy to win here today and the team also did a really great job to get me there”, said Olav Kooij.
Alongside the Dutchman on the podium were Sam Bennett from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and former world champion Mads Pedersen from Lidl-Trek. The highest-placed Polish rider was Stanisław Aniołkowski from Cofidis, who finished 6th.
“Today, many great sprinters were set on the finish. The situation on the stage was under control, the breakaways weren’t dangerous, the distance was quite long, and it was quite warm, so it was tough for the escapees. The finish was very fast because when we turned towards the finish line, we had a tailwind, so there was really a lot of speed. At the finish, I had a slight clash with Tim Merlier, I had to hit the brakes a little so I wouldn’t crash into another rider, which cost me some speed. It’s a shame because I had a good position to finish in the top three today,” said the Polish sprinter.
In the general classification, Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) still leads, with a 19-second advantage over Diego Ulissi from UAE Team Emirates.
“Today was a long and fairly quiet day. We stayed out of danger and that was the goal. The important thing is that I’m now second in the classification. I want to try to consolidate this position and focus on the next few days. I’m looking forward to the penultimate one on Saturday, it will be a tough stage that will certainly outline the general classification, so you have to be ready,” said the Italian who leads the ENERGA sprinter classification.
In third place is Wilco Kelderman, another rider from Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Tomorrow, the riders will tackle a hilly stage starting and finishing in Katowice, largely taking place in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.
Best riders on stage 4 of 81st Tour de Pologne
DRUTEX Stage Winner: Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)
DECATHLON Team General Classification: Bahrain Victorious
ENERGA GRUPA ORLEN Prime for the Best Polish Rider: Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis)
Polish Television Special Prize: Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis)
Soudal Special Prize: Szymon Sajnok (Q36.5)
Leaders of the classification in the 81st Tour de Pologne after 4 stages
ORLEN General Classification: Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma I Lease a Bike)
PZU Best Climber Classification: Michał Paluta (Polish National Team)
ENERGA Sprinter Classification: Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates)
LOTTO Most Active Rider Classification: Szymon Sajnok (Q36.5)