Guarnieri surprises top sprinters

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Jacopo Guarnieri, 21, took his first professional win in the third stage of the Tour of Poland Tuesday. The Liquigas neo-professional got the jump on seasoned sprinters Allan Davis (Quick Step), André Greipel (Columbia-HTC) and Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) to claim the team's first victory of the Tour.

Greipel received a consolation prize in the leader's yellow jersey as well as the points jersey. The time bonus for third was enough to catapult him into the race lead thanks to his consistent high placings. He is tied on time with the morning's leader Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil), Guarnieri and stage two winner Angelo Furlan (Lampre NGC).

"Leading simultaneously in two separate classifications is an impressive achievement," said Columbia-HTC directeur sportif Tristan Hoffman. "If he gets a stage win, of course, that would be the icing on the cake.

"We came close today. Our lead-out was all there and in place with 700 metres to go, but at the last minute our guys got swamped from behind and André had to settle for third. Still, there are two more good opportunities for him, on Wednesday and on Saturday's last stage."

Hoffman said the team will defend Greipel's overall lead, but that they expect collaboration from the sprinters' teams in Wednesday's 239-kilometre stage. "We'll do our utmost for André, although on a stage that long you'll need to form alliances with other teams, and then we'll see what Edvald [Boasson Hagen] is able to do in the mountains. We've seen he's in great shape even though he's not raced for a quite a while, and of course Michael [Albasini] will have his chance too."