Rojas, the new Tour of Poland leader, fears weather

By Antonio J. Salmerón

Caisse d'Epargne's Jose Joaquin Rojas took over the lead in the general classification of the Tour of Poland after slipping into a 12-man breakaway which held a dozen seconds on the morning's leader, Allan Davis (Quick Step) at the line. Rojas, who lost the sprint for the stage win by millimetres to Jurgen Roelandts (Silence-Lotto) was consoled with the overall lead.

"It is a pity that I missed out on another victory by a hair, so taking the overall is a little bittersweet," he said to Cyclingnews.

His teammate and fellow countryman Luis Leon Sanchez was also in the breakaway, but rolled in four seconds behind the group of ten which sprinted for the line after working to try to deliver Rojas to the win. Sanchez is now is seventh in the overall standings, six seconds back, but the differences in the top ten are small.

To keep the jersey of overall leader, Rojas faces some challenging days ahead. After stage four was annulled due to foul weather and a rider's protest of the dangerous finishing circuits, Rojas is worried that the trip into the mountains could be downright wintry. "We do not know what the weather will be like tomorrow, with rain and cold, and there are five mountains tomorrow - it could even be snowing up there.

Rojas said the mountains are not supposed to be very difficult, but said his lead may be difficult to defend. "It all depends on how my rivals react, because the differences are very small."