Tour de Pologne: Thibau Nys doubles up with another hilltop victory on stage 3
Jonas Vingegaard retains yellow jersey after cameo on climb to Karłów
![WALBRZYCH POLAND AUGUST 14 LR Thibau Nys of Belgium and Team LidlTrek celebrates at finish line as stage winner ahead of Diego Ulissi of Italy and UEA Team Emirates White Sprint Jersey during the 81st Tour de Pologne Stage 3 a 1565km stage from Walbrzych to DusznikiZdroj UCIWT on August 14 2024 in Walbrzych Poland Photo by Luc ClaessenGetty Images](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3DTsJ5TNiNnBovPMhQw6EZ-320-80.jpg)
Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) claimed his second victory in three days on the Tour de Pologne after he delivered another perfectly pitched sprint on the uphill finale at Duszniki-Zdrój. The Belgian timed his effort smartly, coming past Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) within sight of the line to take the spoils.
Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) came home in third place on the stage ahead of Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos).
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retains the overall lead after he placed 9th on the day, three seconds behind Nys. The Dane was prominent in the finale when he cut the peloton in size with an acceleration on the second of two ascents of Karłów.
Thanks to the time bonus for second place, Ulissi moves up to second overall, 16 seconds behind Vingegaard, while Kelderman lies third at 18 seconds.
The stage took in no fewer than five category 2 ascents ahead of the short, sharp kick to the finish, and the day was animated by a ten-man move that took shape in two parts. Michal Paluta (Poland), Jan Maas (Jayco-Alula) and Nicolas Debeaumarché (Cofidis) went up the road early on before they were joined by Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Samuel Watson (Groupama-FDJ), Ben Turner (Ineos), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Mick van Dijke (Visma-Lease a Bike), Hugo Houle (Israel Premier Tech) and Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep) ahead of the first ascent of Karłów.
A crash later took Reinderink and Debeaumarché out of the break and despite Bilbao’s attempts to press on over the top of the climb, the peloton began to close in steadily on the escapees as they came around for their second lap over the ascent of Karłów, with EF Education-EasyPost and DSM-Firmenich-PostNL to the fore.
The escapees were reeled in on the ascent with a shade under 20km to go. Shortly afterwards, Vingegaard himself came to the front, and his steady but sustained acceleration set the terms of engagement for the remainder of the stage. His effort helped to whittle down the peloton, while further accelerations from Archie Ryan and Jakob Fulgsang ensured the dropped riders would struggle to make their way back on.
From there, it was clear that the stage would be decided on the 800m-long kick to the finish in Duszniki-Zdrój, and Lidl-Trek set out their intentions by setting the tempo on the approach to the climb, with Mads Pedersen putting in a mammoth turn on the front.
Bahrain Victorious took up the reins beneath the flamme rouge, and they still led as the race swung onto the narrow road that led towards the finish line. As the gradient began to bite, Ulissi, Ryan and Kelderman moved towards the front, surely reasoning that it would be difficult to move up on a narrow road like this one.
Ulissi is an expert in scenarios such as this. After leading on the steepest ramps of the climb, he opened his effort in earnest as the road began to flatten out with 200m to go. He led into the final bends, but Nys – already so impressive in victory on stage 1 – had moved into position. The Belgian bided his time before unleashing a crisp sprint, and he came around Ulissi in the final 50m to claim the eighth victory of a fine season.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/j0riqebpsw1715769462.png)
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
![](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/j0riqebpsw1715769462.png)
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
Most Popular
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Women's WorldTour – The definitive guide for 2024
Everything you need to know about the professional racing series teams, points, races and standings -
2024 Gravel National Champions index
Who is your 2024 gravel champion? From the US to Britain and Australia to Canada find out the riders in the national stripes -
Carolin Schiff wins second German gravel national crown in debatable move to beat reigning Unbound champ Rosa Klöser
'A hard pill to swallow, but not against the rules' says disappointed runner-up in women's race -
Remco Evenepoel leads Belgian team at Zurich World Championships
'Remco will do everything to make his ambitions come true' says National Coach Sven Vanthourenhout