Tour de Pologne: Kittel wins in Warszawa

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Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) showed he is back on form and back up to speed by winning a hectic finish at the end of the opening stage of the Tour of Poland.

The German rider was well protected by his teammates in the twisting finish in central Warsaw and then used his speed to hit the line first.

Australia’s Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) cut inside Kittel through the final corner and hit the front but the German had a better line and opened up his power to win ahead of the Ewan. Niccolo’ Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida) was third with the peloton lined-out in their slipstream. World champion and overall contender Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) finished ninth.

Thanks to his win, Kittel is the first leader of this year’s Tour of Poland. He heads into stage 2, a 146km race from Czestochowa to Dabrowa Górnicza, with a four-second lead over Ewan and six seconds ahead of Bonifazio.

How it unfolded

The world-class peloton lined up in Warszawa for a 122km opener of the Tour of Poland. The men contested 12 laps of a 12.2km circuit that saw an early breakaway take shape.

The three riders who worked their way off the front of the field were Adrian Kurek (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Pawel Bernas (Poland) and Matej Mohoric (Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team).

Kurek picked up full points on the only KOM of the day and will wear the leader’s jersey in the mountain competition, while Mohoric earned himself the day’s most aggressive rider jersey.

The day was destined to see a bunch sprint, and with the three breakaway riders back in the fold, teams with fast sprinters formed lead-out trains at the front of the field.

Orica-GreenEdge and Giant-Alpecin were the dominate teams during the lead-outs over the final lap. Kittel’s team dropped him off at the front of the field ahead of the final bend on the course, however, Ewan skirted around him as they entered the corner but came out of the corner wide on the far left handside of the road.

The sly move wasn’t enough to hold off Kittel, who took the quicker line through the corner, and the German sprinter powered passed Ewan for the victory.

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