'I wasn't certain about starting this morning' - Injured Tour de Pologne leader Paul Lapeira survives hilly 200km stage with cracked ribs to stay in yellow

Tour de Pologne leader Paul Lapeira may still have no idea how far the injuries he incurred on stage 3's dramatic downhill crash will let him protect his yellow jersey.

But to judge by the Frenchman's ultra-determined defence of his top spot on Thursday's hilly stage 4, if and when he is defeated, the 25-year-old will surely go down with all guns blazing.

Following his high-speed downhill crash on stage 3, Lapeira began the next day's racing with multiple injuries on his right leg, arm and back, and suffering from breathing problems because of cracked ribs.

Both the rider and his Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale were utterly uncertain as to how far he would be able to go, and as sports director Luke Roberts put it on Thursday morning, "We'll just have to see what happens."

Fortunately for Lapeira, stage 4 was nowhere near as tough as stage 3's non-stop hilly rollercoaster through southern Poland. But it's 2,500 metres of vertical climbing over slightly more than 200 kilometres presented a daunting challenge nonetheless, not to mention the repeated laps of a highly technical finishing circuit in the southern border town of Cieszyn to round things off.

Lapeira finally came through the day's racing unscathed, incident-free, and in the fast and furious bunch sprint, won by fellow Frenchman Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep), placing 17th across the line.

And as Lapeira told reporters with a weary smile in the race's mixed zone afterwards, given before the stage he hadn't even been sure he would be able to get on a bike, let alone complete the course, he had to be more than satisfied with how it had all worked out.

"For sure it was a hard day, I wasn't even certain about starting this morning," Lapeira, the Pologne leader since winning the stage 2 uphill finish at Karpacz, told reporters.

"The team treated me well yesterday [Wednesday] evening, and because of the jersey I really wanted to give it a go today and to try.

"Then in the end it was not so bad, for sure it was painful, especially my ribs that are, I think, cracked. Especially when I take deep breaths, it's really painful.

"But my legs are good, so I'm happy to be with the yellow jersey tonight, and I'll take it day by day from now on."

Going over the 6.2-kilometre mid-stage category 1 ascent of Przelecz Salmopol was the biggest single obstacle of the day; it was notable how Lapeira never seemed to be in any trouble.

While Visma-Lease a Bike laid down a steady pace on slopes touching nearly 12.5% in places, the Frenchman remained well-placed throughout. Then Decathlon's moving to the front as soon as the climb was over was a clear statement that they were determined to get their leader to the finish with his yellow jersey firmly in place.

"I had to say a big, big thanks to my team because they were crazy strong, crazy good - all of them. I can't thank them enough," Lapeira said. "I'm really grateful for what a big job they did."

The stage itself finished off with four laps of a complex, highly technical city centre circuit, which, even though it did not rain, still saw at least one crash take place, involving an EF Education-EasyPost rider, and Lapeira said he hoped that such finishes would not be repeated in what remained of the race.

"I had Stan [Dewulf] working [especially] for me, and the other guys were there for me too. [But] it was a really hectic lap, and to be honest, I think it was too dangerous for a WorldTour race," he said.

"We don't need these dangerous laps. It is what is, but if we don't have them in the next days, that'll be nice."

As for what's to come, stage 5 on Friday takes the 2025 Tour de Pologne into the foothills of the Carpathian mountains in the country's deep south. At 206.1 kilometres, too, it is the longest day in the saddle of the whole race and features just under 3,000 metres of vertical climbing - 500 metres more than on stage 4.

As if that weren't daunting enough, rather than a comparatively flat finale like on stage 4, stage 5 ends with a grinding unclassified ascent to Gubalowka, peaking out 10 kilometres from the line, then an uphill finish in the tourist resort of Zakopane.

The stage outcome will likely hang in the balance between a reduced bunch sprint, a breakaway and some GC battles prior to Saturday's even tougher day in the hills, but in any case, as Lapeira put it, there is no point in looking too far ahead.

"Today [Thursday] was the biggest concern," Lapeira said, "so I'm a bit more confident tonight. We'll have to see how it goes, and I will have to take it day by day. I can't think about Saturday for now."

On the downside of stage 4, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale had to rue their second abandon of the 2025 race, as stage 1 crash victim Sam Bennett followed stage 2 DNF Rasmus Pedersen in taking an early exit.

However, Lapeira's managing to stay in yellow represented a major triumph in everything but name, and will surely give the team a major boost in morale for whatever Pologne can throw at them in the days to come.