Moser wins 2012 Tour de Pologne

John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) repeated the performance of teammate Marcel Kittel at last year's Tour of Poland by claiming a field sprint victory in Krakow in the 131.4km concluding stage of this year's edition. In the midst of a torrential thunderstorm, the 23-year-old German outsprinted Sky teammates Mathew Hayman and Ben Swift for the win.

"I'm really happy, last year my teammate Kittel was the winner here, while this year I took the honours in the final stage," said Degenkolb. "In the final we got hit by the storm but fortunately in the last kilometre the road was nice and wide with no curves so we didn't run into any problems. It was a final suited to me and thanks to the team, which carried me magnificently, I managed to win it."

Moreno Moser (Liquigas-Cannondale) started the final stage with a five-second lead over Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) on general classification and the 21-year-old Italian maintained his advantage over Kwiatkowski through to the finish, denying the chance for the Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider to be the first Pole since 2003 to win his national Tour. Sergio Henao (Sky) rounded out the final general classification podium in third place at 16 seconds.

It was a hard-fought Tour of Poland between Moser and Kwiatkowski as the Italian won the opening stage and held the leader's jersey through to stage 4. On the fourth stage, however, Kwiatkowski earned a time bonus which vaulted him from one second down to two seconds ahead of Moser. The Pole held the yellow jersey through to Sunday's stage six, but another victory by Moser gave the Liquigas-Cannondale enough of a time bonus to reclaim the yellow jersey entering today's final stage.

"I came here in good shape but I certainly wasn't expecting to win," said Moser. "My first victory at Karpacz gave me confidence. Then Kwiatkowski got the jersey off me and I knew that in those two mountain stages I could try and get it back and I did.

"Today I started off with a five-second advantage and they weren't enough to feel relaxed. I counted down kilometre after kilometre; I couldn't wait for the stage to finish and fortunately everything went well. I'm super happy. I will always remember Poland; this is my first year as a pro and here I clinched the first major success in my career."

Despite the narrow margin of defeat, Kwiatkowski was pleased with his performance and his stint in the leader's jersey on home soil.

"I didn't manage to win, however this second place is a good result in a race that's important in my home country of Poland," said Kwiatkowski. "I was well-prepared for the Tour de Pologne but I didn't think I would ever come this far in the general classification. After the first few stages I realized I was among the best and so I started believing in it.

"I wore the yellow jersey for two days, riding with this jersey was a major thrill. I thank the team that gave me the best support and all the crowds for cheering me on in every stage. I hope one day to manage to win."

The flat and fast final stage was dominated by a 12-man escape that formed in the early kilometres containing Bert Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM), Lars Boom (Rabobank), Robert Wagner (Radioshack-Nissan), Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky), Mickael Delage (FDJ-Big Mat), Branislau Samoilau (Movistar), Francesco Failli (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia), Zdenek Stybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Dmytro Krivstov (Lampre-ISD), Aleksander Porsev (Katusha), Jaroslaw Marycz (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) and Oleg Berdos (Utensilnord Named).

The break reached a maximum advantage of approximately three minutes before the inevitable catch from a peloton driven by the sprinters' teams, timed to perfection just three kilometres from the finish. Despite a fierce rain storm in the closing kilometres that drenched Krakow, the peloton arrived safely at the finish line with Degenkolb proving the fastest in the stage finale.