Stage 4 of the Tour de Pologne was temporarily neutralised after a major mid-race crash in the peloton required all the medical services to attend the injured and fallen.
Around 30 to 40 riders went down around in a major pile-up that happened 41 kilometres from the finish of the hilly stage from Borowice to Karpacz.
With riders falling on both sides of the road, some hitting a crash barrier, bikes and riders were scattered all over the road. Amongst those who fell were Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma), although the extent of their injuries, if any, was not known.
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The mass crash took place on a fast, sweeping downhill in the middle of the bunch in a wooded rural area, just when the peloton was hitting high speeds on broad roads and reeling in a four-rider break of the day, some 90 seconds ahead.
The immediate cause of the crash was not clear, but there was speculation that wet conditions on country roads, in what is the first major rainfall of the week, combined with white traffic paint lines, could have caused it.
A race motorbike also was caught up in the collision, which seemed to have taken place in the middle of the bunch when the riders crashed.
So many riders went down it was necessary to halt the race as all the available ambulances were dealing with the crash victims. Last year a similar situation arose on stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne when a mass crash on a fast downhill also sparked a temporary neutralisation.
The four riders ahead - Dries De Bondt (Jayco AlUla), Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana) and Team Poland duo Tobiasz Pawlak and Patryk Stosz - were told to stop by commissaires and halted in the middle of the road in dense woodland, while the peloton continued but gradually freewheeled to a stop. It was not immediately clear how long the race would be delayed, but racing finally got underway after around 30-40 minutes.
Some riders in the peloton, waiting for the race to begin again, asked for a change in the late descents on the route, alleging possible dangers. But as race organisers started discussions with riders, it was not immediately clear if GC times later on would be partially suspended, particularly as the weather was seemingly improving and drying up.
Finally what was decided was that one of the climbs, the 4.6 kilometre Cat. 1 Borowice, would be removed. As a result the length of the stage was reduced, and only the Karpacz (7km at 6.1%), followed by a short descent and kick up to the finish, remained in place.
Amongst those injured was major favourite and former Pologne winner João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who dropped back from the pack once racing resumed, his left leg clearly injured and his shorts torn.
After bunch sprints decided the opening three stages, today's first mountainous stage marks the beginning of the GC battle, with the current leader Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).
More later…
