Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) blistered the final sprint and won stage 5 in Katowice at the Tour de Pologne. On the final 100 metres he sprang from six riders back to pass Jordi Meuss (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who finished second. Thursday’s stage winner Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) took another podium with third.
The Katowice finale after 187.6km saw three sprinters go down just outside the 3km to go mark, Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), and all three were able to finish.
Arriving safely across the line in the front group were all top contenders in the GC, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retaining his lead over Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) trailing Vingegaard by 19 seconds.
Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) hit the accelerator in the final 200 metres and sprinted past Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) for the stage 4 victory at the Tour de Pologne. Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was able to slip past Pedersen as well on the far outside of the road to claim second, leaving the Lidl-Trek rider in third. Kooij' teammate Jonas Vingegaard retained the overall lead, finishing safely in the peloton after the longest day of the seven stages.
Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) scored his second victory in three days on the Tour de Pologne, surging past coming past Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) near the line on stage 3. Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished third.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retained the overall lead after he placed ninth on the day, three seconds behind Nys. With a time bonus for second place, Ulissi moved to second overall, 16 seconds behind Vingegaard, while Kelderman was in third, 18 seconds back.
The only rider to go under the 24-minute mark, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) won the 15.4km uphill time trial on stage 2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) finished nine seconds down for second place and Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates) took third.
Vingegaard takes over the yellow jersey with a 24-second lead on his teammate Wilco Kelderman. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) sits in third overall, a further second back.
Timing his sprint perfectly in the sharp uphill finale, Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) won the opening stage of the 2024 Tour de Pologne in Karpacz, and so pulled on the first yellow jersey of this year's race.
Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) took second after a late-race attack while Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education-EasyPost) was third. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) crossed the line six seconds behind Nys for fourth place.
Tour de Pologne 2024 overview
The 81st edition of the Tour de Pologne takes place August 12-18, 2024. The Tour de Pologne remains the only WorldTour stage race in central Europe and is also its country's biggest cycling event. The week-long race featuring bunch sprint and hilly stages is traditionally decided by very small time gaps, where bonus seconds can be crucial.
The race began 1928 as an amateur race and now in its 80th edition, in 1993 it became a fully professional-only race, before joining the WorldTour series in 2005.
Run by the Lang organisation since 1993, three riders hold the record for three wins in the event: Dariusz Baranowski, Andrzej Mierzejewski and Marian Wieckowski.
Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) won the GC title last year in a close battle with João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates). Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) finished third overall, 17 seconds back. The Bahrain-Victorious rider moved into the overall lead with a victory on stage 2 and held off his rival by just one second on the final day, a reversal of their finish in 2021 when Almeida took the GC win.
Check out the list of all the past winners of the Tour de Pologne.
The start of the 81st Tour de Pologne will be one of the toughest in recent years, with the opening three days in the challenging terrain of Lower Silesia, including a hilly time trial on the second day of racing.
Join Cyclingnews' coverage of the 2024 Tour de Pologne with race reports, results, photo galleries, news and race analysis.
Tour de Pologne 2024 route
Like 2023, the Tour de Pologne will include a mix of mountainous and hilly stages, with two suited for sprinters and one time trial.
The opening day of racing is planned to begin in Wrocław and head west to a finishing climb to Orlinek in Karpacz, on the border of Czechia, with a finish in Kraków. Read all the details of the Tour de Pologne 2024 route.
Stage 4 - Tour de Pologne: Olav Kooij wins stage 4 | Kudowa-Zdrój - Prudnik2024-08-15 195.3km
