How the race unfolded
The fourth stage of the Tour de Pologne started in Sterzlin, a new addition to the Tour de Pologne route. The 162 riders in the race covered 199.1km, including two cobbled sections of 0.5km and 2.2km, before reaching Opole, where the sprinters battled for the stage win in a technical finish.
The strong wind throughout the race seemed perfect for echelons, but despite a few attempts no one was able to make much of a difference. Instead, it was a 90-degree corner about 500 metres from the finish that proved decisive.
Yevgeniy Gidich (AST), Jacopo Mosca (LTK), Sebastian Schonberger (HPM), Norbert Banaszek (POL), Patryk Stosz (POL) formed the day's breakaway, which managed to maintain a maximum distance of 3’ from the peloton throughout the race and were caught at the 173 km mark.
Bahrain Victorious, Jumbo-Visma, Movistar, Bora-Hansgrohe and Soudal-Quick Step took turns at the front of the peloton imposing the pace and causing many splits in the bunch. Average speed of the day 45.379 km/h.
Jacopo Mosca (LTK) claimed the day's Mountain Sprint, Patryk Stosz (POL) won all the LOTTO intermediate sprints and Norbert Banasek took the day's special prize.
Tomorrow’s stage
The stage - almost 199 kilometres long - is a typical mountain stage, with an elevation gain of over 3,000 metres. The riders will start in Pszczyna and finish in Bielsko-Biała, which has hosted the Tour de Pologne in the past. Before the finish, however, the riders will be confronted with several tough climbs: a 2nd-category PZU KOM at Zameczek (Little Castle) and two 1st-category PZU KOMs at Ochodzita and Salmopol. The latter Mountain Speint is named after Joachim Halupczok, Poland's 1988 Olympic medalist. There will also be three LOTTO Intermediate Sprints in Ustroń, Istebna and Wilkowice along the route of stage five.
