Tour of Poland: Stage 4

Aussie Caleb Ewan sprinted to victory on stage 4 of the Tour of Poland, Peter Sagan holds on to his yellow jersey

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Tour of Poland: Stage 4

Orica Scott Team Press Release
After a perfectly executed lead-out from Slovenian champion Luka Mezgec, Ewan was able to launch from the wheel in the final few hundred metres and take a convincing victory by a couple of bike lengths.

After a close second place on stage one, Ewan was pleased to get things right today and come away with a win on the long and hot 238 kilometre stage. “It was good to get the win today, it was pretty frustrating on the first stage coming second as I knew if I got out when I wanted and started sprinting then I could have won,” Ewan explained.

“Today worked out perfectly, Luka delivered me really well and it was good to have no real hurdles in my way so I could start sprinting when I wanted to and it payed off. This year I’ve had to prove myself over long distances and I think it has often been a bit of a question mark whether I can survive longer races. With this win today being over 230 kilometres and also my stage win at the Giro d’Italia, it shows that I can still sprint after a long, hard stage.”

How it happened:
Stage four, the longest stage of the Tour of Poland, kicked off with a breakaway of six riders animating the race, successfully breaking away in the early stages. With sweltering hot conditions the peloton allowed the escapees to open up their lead, riding out to a maximum advantage of six minutes.

As the kilometres ticked down, gradually the distance to the breakaway reduced and they lost one rider, leaving five at the front. With 20 kilometres to go the gap hovered around one minute with Rob Power and Ruben Plaza sent to the front of the bunch to represent ORICA-SCOTT with the steady chase. Inside the final 10 kilometres one rider remained ahead but in the end it came down to a much hoped for bunch sprint.

Mezgec positioned himself well in the final 500 metres with Ewan tight on his wheel and with a clear run to the line the 23-year-old displayed his explosive power to claim the stage victory ahead of Danny van Poppel (Team Sky) and the race leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe). … continued after advert

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Other reactions

Peter Sagan: With high speeds, the long distance and temperatures approaching 40°C, Peter felt the efforts on what was a very tough day. “It was a very long stage, I could even say maybe too long, under a scorching sun and hot temperatures. It was also very fast, with an average speed of 42km/h. The team worked hard all day to control the escapees and reel them in, which we did in the final 10km. I tried my best in the sprint, taking third and four bonus seconds, but Ewan proved the fastest of the bunch. Again, sensations were good and tomorrow is another day.”

Boy Van Poppel: “On the first stage I was a little bit too much in the wind, in the second day I was happy with fourth – maybe I was too early though– and today I had really good legs, but I didn’t have the space to come out,” explained van Poppel. “I was waiting and waiting, and when I wanted to start my sprint I was in-between my brother (Danny van Poppel) and Peter Sagan, and I couldn’t move left or right, and I was bumping into them and had to wait and hope no one was passing on the left.

“But I am happy with my fourth place again. Of course, I don’t say that I would have won today, but if I had the full space to do my full sprint, I could have really played for the victory. Yeah, every day I am showing myself up there in the sprint and showing also that I can be one of them.”

Sacha Modolo “Today was a real shame,” says Sacha Modolo “I had incredible legs but I couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity. I was on Ferrari’s tyre and he was driving me perfectly when I lost him in a bottleneck about 1 kilometre from the end. At that point I got stuck in around fifteenth place and I didn’t find a gap until the very last metres. I’m also sorry for the team, considering that they took on the better part of the work to catch up to the fugitives. I can console myself with the fact that I am in good physical shape, and I know that I can try again.”

Dylan Teuns (2nd on GC): “It was a really long day on the bike, but in the end, everything went to plan for us. We crossed the line safely, and there were no gaps in the bunch sprint, so overall it was a good day. It was a hot day so, while I could recover a little bit after yesterday, the temperature definitely made it harder. I feel in good shape, but we will still be taking the race day by day to see what we can achieve at the end of the week.”

Stage 4
1. Caleb Ewan ORICA-Scott
2. Danny van Poppel Team Sky
3. Peter Sagan BORA – hansgrohe
4. Boy van Poppel Trek – Segafredo
5. Sacha Modolo UAE Team Emirates
6. Lorrenzo Manzin FDJ
7. Tom Van Asbroeck Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
8. Enrico Battaglin Team LottoNL-Jumbo
9. Alan Banaszek CCC Sprandi Polkowice
10. Roberto Ferrari UAE Team Emirates

Overall
1. Peter Sagan BORA – hansgrohe
2. Dylan Teuns BMC Racing Team 0:10
3. Rafal Majka BORA – hansgrohe 0:16
4. Wilco Kelderman Team Sunweb 0:20
5. Tom-Jelte Slagter Cannondale-Drapac 0:25
6. Christian Eiking FDJ 0:27
7. Domenico Pozzovivo AG2R La Mondiale 0:28
8. Wout Poels Team Sky 0:29
9. Adam Yates ORICA-Scott
10. Nathan Haas Dimension Data 0:34

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