Liquigas-Cannondale rider Peter Sagan showed impressive strength to win today’s fourth stage of the Tour of Poland, rocketing clear approximately 600 metres from the finish in Cieszyn and hitting the line well ahead of the next rider.
Defending champion Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) took second, three seconds back, with Vacansoleil’s Marco Marcato in third. Martin was prominent in the closing stages when Sagan’s team-mates – including 2010 Vuelta a España winner Vincenzo Nibali – began pushing the pace to set their rider up for the win. Both the Irishman and Nibali looked impressive, but the cobblestoned, uphill power finish was best suited to Sagan and he powered clear.
The gap opened immediately and from that point on the others were racing for second.
“This finish was suited to my skills,” said Sagan afterwards. “I’m in good shape so this morning in the team we decided to race for me and to try to win. I have to thank my team mates and especially Nibali; they all did an extraordinary job to make the cut in the final circuit.”
Paul Maertens (Rabobank) came in behind Martin and Maertens, netting fourth. Overnight leader and triple stage winner Marcel Kittel didn’t figure in the finale and lost his grip on the yellow jersey. Sagan took over at the top, and now holds a five second lead over Marcato.
Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil) and Martin are a further two seconds behind in third and fourth place. They and others are close enough to strike in the days ahead, but Sagan said his morale has been boosted and he is determined to fight.
“I’m happy with this victory; it’s a result that boosts my confidence as I look ahead to the Vuelta España, where I’m counting on doing well,” he said. “Now I’m going to try to defend this yellow jersey, even if there are still two very difficult stages…let’s see how it goes tomorrow.”
The previous three stages came down to bunch finishes but the parcours of this fourth leg made it clear that things would be a lot tougher for the race leader Marcel Kittel. A constantly up-and-down course with three first category climbs would suit attackers, and would also thin out the bunch before the finish.
The most significant move of the day started approximately an hour after the start, when Chad Beyer (BMC Racing Team) went away with two others. These were the home rider Bartolomiej Matysiak (CCC Polsat) plus the Italian Federico Rocchetti (De Rosa Flaminia). The trio was joined soon afterwards by a second home rider, Kamil Gradik (Poland).
After 105 kilometres, the American Beyer decided it was better to go it alone and he surged clear on the category one Kubalonka, He was joined some time later by the Moldovan champion Alexandr Pliuschin (Katuasha) and they initially joined forces. However going onto a finishing circuit, where the riders would do three laps of a 6.3 kilometre loop, Pliuschin broke clear.
Riding well, he remained out front for several kilometers but was then caught and dropped by Simon Clarke (Astana). He rode strongly, pounding the pedals around in a bid to hold off the chase behind. They got back up to him, though, and then the Liquigas-Cannondale team moved towards the front.
Saxo Bank SunGard rider Jaroslaw Marycz kicked hard in search of a home win and appeared to have a decent chance as he hoped a good lead. The Liquigas-Cannondale riders were having none of it, though, and very rapidly got back up to him.
Nibali threw the hammer down on one of the climbs, stretching things right out. Martin hovered close to the front and put in one dig, but the climb wasn’t long enough for him to make the most of his abilities.
Instead it was Sagan who triumphed, rocketing away on another ramp and quickly gaining a stage-winning advantage. Martin led the chasers home for second, moving up to fourth overall; he’s trying to win the race for the second time, and has two more days to close the gap.
Tomorrow’s 201.5 kilometre stage to Zakopane will give a platform for aggressive racing, with ten categorized climbs in all. Friday’s leg has one more than that, and so fireworks are certain between now and Saturday’s flatter final stage.
Sagan isn’t a mountain specialist, but said that he’ll fight hard. “I returned to racing after a long training period at altitude and paid for a lack of sharpness in the opening stages,” he explained. “Now I am improving and the goal is to hold on to try to win the general classification. It will not be easy, particularly as the day after tomorrow is a stage for real climbers, but I will try to defend.”