Hutarovich wins chaotic Tour of Poland opener

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Yauheni Hutarovich (Ag2r-La Mondiale) claimed victory in the bunch sprint at the end of stage 1 of the Tour of Poland on a day marred by a spate of crashes in treacherous conditions.

Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat) was the last survivor of the day’s early break – which was itself not immune to the crashes that marked the afternoon’s racing – but he was swept up by the peloton in the streets of Bydgoszcz.

In the subsequent bunch finish, Hutarovich emerged victorious ahead of Roman Maikin (RusVelo) and Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida), while Paterski gamely held on for fourth place. The sprint, too, was beset by a crash, with Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) hitting a barrier inside the final 150 metres.

How it unfolded

The day's breakaway set off early in the 226km stage, under sunny skies and sweltering temperatures, but the finale of the stage would be contested in polar opposite conditions. Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar), Matthias Krizek (Cannondale), Kamil Gradek (Poland), Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat Polkowice) and Anton Vorobyev (Katusha) were allowed a generous advantage by the peloton, with their gap exceeding 12 minutes at times.

Gradek won the first sprint in Kwidzyn after 86km, as all five riders cooperated smoothly throughout the day. They still had a lead of four minutes when the skies turned from blue to black, and a freak storm pelted the breakaway with rain, hail and strong winds with 50km to go.

The riders weren't the only beings suffering, as the trees were torn asunder in the gale, with one rather large tree being snapped in two onto the road ahead of the race. The breakaway made it through unscathed, but the debris from the storm caused several serious crashes in the bunch.

In the midst of the chaos, Engoulvent won the second prime in Unislaw at kilometer 171.8, but the stage was less about racing and more about survival by that point.

The situation did not improve much ones the race hit the closing circuits in Bydgoszcz, where the rain-soaked roads were as slippery as ice. The entire breakaway fell in one turn with 20km left to race, and the spill did not help their chances to stay away from the Tinkoff-Saxo led peloton.

Paterski was the first rider back on his bike, and he used the opportunity to set off solo in pursuit of the sole climber's points of the day at 16km to go, while Krizek and Engoulevent struggled to get back onto his wheel.

They duo succeeded in closing the gap, and coming into one lap to go, the trio held a slim 20 second advantage, but the peloton was closing fast.

Paterski used the same turn that caused the earlier crash to distance his companions, but the effort served only to scuttle the trio's only chance at holding off the sprinters.

The peloton swept past in the final kilometer, and BMC's Peter Velits jumped to try and hold off the sprinters. Giant-Shimano chased him down, but its sprinter Luka Mezgec suffered a touch of wheels and crashed headfirst into the barriers.

The spill opened the door for Hutarovich to claim his first WorldTour stage victory since his win on stage 2 of the 2010 Vuelta a España.

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