Furlan tops second stage

Italy's Angelo Furlan (Lampre-NGC) won the second stage of the Tour of Poland and took his season's second win Monday. He sprinted ahead of Belgian Jürgen Roelandts (Silence-Lotto) and Argentinean Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank) at the end of 219.1 kilometres from Serock to Bialystok.

Team Columbia-HTC led to the finish for its sprinter, André Greipel, but Furlan followed Columbia's lead and jumped clear for the win.

"Today's sprint was perfect for my characteristics: a wide and long road that allowed me to reach a very high speed," said Furlan. "Thanks to my teammates I approached the sprint in a good position and then I gave my best in order to beat some very tough opponents.

"I was not sure I would be in very good shape after the crashes in Tour de France: when I came back from France, I laid in bed for three days because of the wounds, then I began to train for 2-3 hours a day. "

Slovenian Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil), winner of yesterday's first stage, remains the overall race leader. He will wear the yellow leader's jersey in stage three from Bielsk Podlaski to Lublin, 225.1 kilometres.

Furlan and Roelandts are second and third in the overall classification behind Bozic.

Furlan's took his first win of the season in stage two of the Dauphiné Libéré. It was the second time he found success at the Tour of Poland after winning last year's first stage ahead of Luciano Pagliarini.