Tour de Pologne: Kwiatkowski wins stage 4

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Michal Kwiatkowski powered to victory on the tricky uphill finish in Szczyrk on stage 4 of the Tour de Pologne, backing up a day's worth of effort by his Team Sky teammates. He out-kicked defending champion Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing), accelerating away from the Belgian on the final corner. George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) was distanced by the pair but crossed the line in third place. 

Running out of steam, Teuns sat up in the final metres, allowing Kwiatkowski to add a further three seconds to his advantage over the BMC Racing rider in the overall classification. He now leads Teuns by eight seconds in the overall standings with Bennett at 10 seconds to the Polish rider.

Riding the Tour de Pologne for the first time since 2016, Kwiatkowski and Team Sky set their stall out early on. The squad sat en-mass at the front of the bunch, keeping a tight grip on the early break and catching them on the final classified climb.

Heading into the short but steep ascent, Kwiatkowski dropped off the front with just Sergio Henao for company. He bided his time, not reacting to a stinging attack from Richard Carapaz (Movistar) from the bottom of the ascent.

The winner on this same stage last year, Teuns made his own move soon after Carapaz was caught with 300 metres remaining. Kwiatkowski latched onto the wheel of Teuns, pushing past him with just a few metres remaining to take his first ever stage win at his home race.

How it happened

After three sprint stages, the Tour de Pologne moved into the mountains with a finishing circuit that included four first category ascents. Alvaro Hodeg (Quick-Step Floors) started the day in the leader's yellow jersey after his victory on stage 3, but he knew that he would enjoy just one day at the top of the standings.

Starting off in Jaworzno, the peloton set a hard pace as riders tried to form a breakaway. After plenty of action, a three-man move formed with Bert Van Lerberghe (Cofidis), Jan Tratnik (CCC Sprandi Polkowice) and Mark Rutkiewicz (Poland) getting clear. They quickly assumed a strong advantage, and after 30 kilometres of racing the trio had 5:45.

Looking after team leader and home favourite Michal Kwiatkowski, Team Sky assumed the front of the bunch and cut the lead to a more comfortable four minutes. Van Lerberghe couldn't hold the pace when the leaders hit the first climb and he slipped back into the clutches of Team Sky and the rest of the peloton, leaving just the two riders up front.

Tratnik looked the strongest of the remaining escapees, picking off the king of the mountains points ahead of Rutkiewicz on the first two ascents. The Polish rider began to struggle, and with just under 40 kilometres remaining, he was distanced by Tratnik. The CCC rider plugged on alone and would claim the points at the top of the third climb. Behind him, four riders would attack the peloton in pursuit of the Slovenian.

George Preidler (Groupama-FDJ), Ivan Rovny (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jorge Arcas (Movistar) were just 45 seconds behind Tratnik at the top of the climb. He would hold off until the final ascent, but no sooner had the climb begun, Tratnik had been caught. Tratnik would quickly dropped by his new companions and Preidler would drop off the pace soon after.

Team Sky continued to mete out a hefty pace on the climb and the last three escapees were caught with 12 kilometres remaining. There was no fight at all for the king of the mountains points as Pavel Sivakov led he bunch over the top of the climb. While the sprinters had been dispatched with earlier in the day, a large group of around 50 riders remained as the riders made their way down the descent to the final 900-metre rise to the finish line in Szczyrk.

Having relied on Team Sky to set the pace for much of the day, a number of different teams moved to the front, including that of defending champion Dylan Teuns, with Mitchelton-Scott and Bora-Hansgrohe getting into the mix. Kwiatkowski had just Sergio Henao for company after the rest of his team peeled off.

Carapaz tried to get the jump on the peloton, as he had done at the Giro d'Italia in May, striking out as soon as the road turned upwards. The Ecuadorian took a big gap but appeared to be struggling with 400 metres to go, the gradient really biting. He would be brought back as Enrico Gasparotto briefly accelerated from the bunch.

Teuns knew this climb well, having beaten Peter Sagan to take the stage win last year and he had his eyes set on the double. He made his move soon after Carapaz was caught, taking Kwiatkowski with him. The Polish rider would prove too strong for him and he could only watch as Kwiatkowski raised his arms in celebration.

Stage 5 will be another lumpy day with three classified climbs to contend with and plenty of undulating roads.

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