Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) won the first bunch sprint decision on stage 4 of the Tour of Poland. The Dutchman celebrated his sixth win of the season, his first since the Giro d'Italia. Behind him, Sam Bennett Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) crossed the finish line in second and third. Jordi Meeus finished fourth for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Meanwhile, the strong German sprinters around Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Pascal Ackermann (Israel-PremierTech) were unable to ride into the limelight on the 195 kilometres between Kudowa-Zdrój and Prudnik in the south of Poland on the border with the Czech Republic. While Bauhaus only managed 10th place, Ackermann was unable to finish the race due to illness. Maximilian Schachmann (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) did not even make it to the start. He had cancelled his participation with an upper respiratory tract infection.
Vingegaard stopped by fall, but unharmed
For a long time, the Polish riders decided the race amongst themselves. After the last of the local heroes was caught 40 kilometres before the finish on a stage that was mostly flat apart from a climb directly after the start and a category 2 climb in the middle of the race, time trial winner Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates), among others, tried to attack, but was unsuccessful.
There were several crashes over the following kilometres, which also held up Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), among others. However, the Dane did not fall himself and was able to defend his yellow jersey without any problems. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) continues to lead the points classification. Michal Paluta (Polish national team) continues to wear the mountains jersey.
Tour of Poland 2024 - Results: the top 10 of stage 4
- Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) 4:46:20
- Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:00
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +0:00
- Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:00
- Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) +0:00
- Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Cofidis) +0:00
- Gerben Thijssen (Intermarche-Wanty) +0:00
- Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling Team)+0:00
- Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:00
- Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:00
The current standings in the overall standings
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) 12:51:08
- Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) +0:19
- Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:20
- Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) +0:33
- Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:37
- Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:44
- Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:44
- Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +0:49
- Mikkel Frölich Honore (EF Education EasyPost) +0:50
- Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates) +0:50
The 2024 Tour of Poland runs until next Sunday, when it ends in Krakow. The 5th stage around Katowice is also likely to end in a sprint finish.
