Tour de Pologne: Simon Yates solos to stage victory

Michal Kwiatkowski(Team Sky) survived a gutsy late attack bySimon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) to take the overall victory in the Tour de Pologne, with the Briton forced to settle for the stage win and a second place on the final podium.

In a thrilling finale on a short but hilly stage, Yates launched an attack 10 kilometres from the line that saw him cut deep into his 39-second deficit to Kwiatkowski.

With Yates briefly the leader on the road, Kwiatkowski burned out the last of his Sky domestiques and then was forced to defend his yellow jersey in person at the front of a group of some 20 chasers.

But a flurry of late counter-attacks, most notably by George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo), combined with Kwiatkowski's late solo effort to ensure the reigning Polish National Road Champion finally captured his biggest home race for good.

A huge cheer went up at the rain-soaked finish of Bukowina Tatranska as the race speaker confirmed that Kwiatkowski, in the lead since stage 4, was declared the overall winner by 15 seconds over Yates, with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) moving over Bennett into third.

It had been a close run stage, with Sky worn down by keeping a dangerous 18-man early break - with Jan Bakelants (AG2R La Mondiale) showing notable condition after his lengthy recovery from his Il Lombardia crash last year - under control on the 136-kilometre stage.

The short but formidable Sciana Bukowina, a final first category climb of six, with slopes of up to 22 per cent and 13 kilometres from the finish, saw LottoNL-Jumbo chew up the remnants of the breakaway. UAE Team Emirates racer Valerio Conti proved the most resistant.

Just as in the finale of stage 6, repeated attacks by George Bennett, also a serious threat overall, that culminated LottoNL-Jumbo's work close to the summit significantly weakened Sky's grip, but failed to break it. Instead, a group of a dozen riders regrouped over the top of the Sciana Bukowina and briefly after a final desperate charge by Conti - again - Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) launched his surprise move.

On a seemingly unfavourable series of false flats and drags up to the finish with sections at 11 per cent, Sky were put under serious pressure, with Kwiatkowski's final support riders, Pavel Sivakov and Sergio Henao, hard put to keep the Briton within reach.

39 seconds behind on GC; Yates' attack saw him come briefly within reach of the yellow, but even as Sivakov's effort fizzled out and Henao contributed as best he can, Kwiatkowski was forced to begin his own chase at the head of the small group of contenders.

Kwiatkowski's appeals for assistance from Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing), then lying second overall, went unanswered, and it was only when Bennett and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) began to drive hard behind that Yates' advantage began notably to shrink. Finally, as the road's gradient eased in the closing kilometres, the Pole could put up a more sustained acceleration, further reducing the distance, and whilst Yates soloed to victory. After crossing the line in sixth place, the Tour de Pologne was finally Kwiatkowski's for good.

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