Cyclingnews

August 4, Stage 4: Tychy - Cieszyn 177.9km

Lorenzetto heads Lampre one-two finish

By:

Adam Sikora

Published:

August 4, 2010, 17:45,

Updated:

August 4, 2010, 19:26

Italian takes over race lead

Photos

It was a great day for the Italian team Lampre-Farnese Vini as they not only finished first and second for the stage but also claimed the yellow jersey for the Tour de Pologne's general classification leader.

Mirco Lorenzetto was the fastest and the smartest man in the final kilometres and his teammate Grega Bole finished just behind him. The former world champion and defending Tour de Pologne champion, Alessandro Ballan (BMC), took third.

"I've been in a good shape in the last few weeks and also today's course fit me," said Lorenzetto. "The cobblestone section and hilly finish is something that I always look forward to. I'm really happy to win since it's my first win of the year and I get to wear the leader's jersey. I'm not thinking about maintaining the lead in the race yet. Right now I just want celebrate this victory."

It was not a decisive stage, but it was definitely a special one. For the first time in Tour de Pologne's history the riders were racing in a foreign country. They crossed the border in Cieszyn and made a visit to the Czech Republic.

On paper - especially with the three first category climbs in the middle - it wasn't a stage that was suited to typical sprinters. The most likely scenario was that perhaps a 40-man group would play out the sprint among themselves, and that is exactly how it ended.

In the first hour of racing the peloton was attentive in neutralising any breakaway attempts. It's never easy to get clear when the average speed reaches 51 km/h, but eventually Cameron Meyer (Garmin-Transitions), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and the leader of mountains classification Dominique Rollin (Cervelo TestTeam) managed to take off 50km into the stage.

The trio shared the work and at the bottom of the first climb they held a six minute advantage on the Astana-led peloton. Rollin went all-out at the summit to take maximum points on the KOM, but later paid for his efforts as he was dropped on the Kubalonka climb.

Meyer and Hoogerland didn't look back and they reached the top of that ascent together with 1:40 over Rollin and 5:40 on the peloton.

Hoogerland, who claimed the mountain jersey after the stage, was setting the pace on the last first category climb which featured grueling sections of 22 percent gradient. The steepness of the climb created further problems for Rollin who was absorbed by the peloton on the descent.

After entering the lowlands the peloton turned up the speed and started reducing the gap to Meyer and Hoogerland. With 35 kilometers remaining the duo had only 2:30 on their pursuers and it became unlikely that their breakaway would succeed. However, the word 'quit' doesn't exist in Hoogerland's dictionary as he decided to launch a solo move.

Meyer was reeled in the with 25km to go and at that point Dutchman was 30 seconds ahead of the peloton. It turned out to be not enough and he was caught on the first of three laps in Cieszyn.

Soon after Hoogerland was caught, Jaroslaw Marycz (Saxo Bank) launched an attack and was joined by Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil). Later on the penultimate lap the Italian accelerated leaving Marycz behind. Marcato crossed the finish line alone and raised his arms in glory but unfortunately he miscalculated the number of laps and still faced another 6.8km lap until the stage finish.

After Marcato realized that he made a mistake it was too late to regain his speed and he was reeled back in by the 40-man chase group.

In the finale of the finishing circuit was an uphill cobblestone section where Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and his teammate, Grega Bole, decided to start a long sprint and it paid off. The pair took the final corner with 100 metres to go in first and second position and they finished the stage in the same order, followed by Alessandro Ballan (BMC).

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