After the second stage in the Tour de Pologne (2.UWT, 9-15/8), Taco van der Hoorn pronounced his wishes to repeat his day in the breakaway. Words were followed by deeds as the Dutch rider was on his toes at the start in Sanok. Six riders started the long 226 kilometer stage, they were joined by four others later. The first race half was filled with hills, but because of the final 50 rather flat kilometer, the sprinters’ teams kept the advantage under control. Taco van der Hoorn won the only intermediate sprint of the day and taking into account yesterday’s performance, he secured the leaders jersey in this classification. In the final, both the breakaway and the peloton accelerated. Van der Hoorn and two breakaway companions battled with a 30 second advantage for a long time, but in the end they had to bury the hatchet with 3 kilometer to go. Fernando Gaviria was the fastest in the streets of Rzeszów. Andrea Pasqualon (11th) with in his slipstream Biniam Girmay Hailu (12th) finished just outside the top 10. Lorenzo Rota conserved his 6th place in the provisional classification.
Who doesn't dare doesn't win! A stage win was definitely within reach today. But the excellent cooperation in the breakaway watered down when approaching the final. I tried to motivate everyone to accelerate within the final 50 kilometer, but unfortunately more and more riders refused to work well. That's why we started attacking early. We made the final quite exciting with Clarke and Taminiaux, but in the end we had to acknowledge the superiority of the peloton. I'm convinced that ten riders working well together had a really good chance to beat the peloton on these nice roads, so it's a pity. But it is good to wear the intermediate sprint jersey after two days in the breakaway. Today was pretty hard and long, so I'll skip a day at the front tomorrow.
This Thursday, a lot of climbing has to be done between Tarnów en Bukovina Resort. Only a couple of short downhill sections interrupt the uphill sloped. The finish in Bukowina Resort is situated at an altitude of 944 meter.
