Tour de Pologne: Ackermann wins stage 1 in Krakow

Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) produced a powerful sprint finish to claim victory on stage 1 of the Tour de Pologne, beating Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) into second place, while Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) claimed third.

The short and flat opening leg in the hinterland of Krakow was always liable to produce a bunch finish, not least because of the depth of sprint talent in this Tour de Pologne peloton, and so it proved.

The finale was a familiar one for Ackermann, who won the corresponding stage a year ago, and he held firm when all others faded on the seemingly interminable finishing straight in Krakow to claim the leader’s yellow jersey.

Ben Swift (Ineos) opened the sprint from distance on the wide Aleja Focha in Krakow, but the Briton perhaps mistimed his effort and soon faded from contention. No matter, the touchpaper had been ignited, as Gaviria surged towards the front, guided by his teammate Simone Consonni.

Ackermann responded in kind and thundered past Gaviria and although he still had more than 100 metres left to race, the German never wilted and claimed an emphatic victory. Gaviria was making his first appearance since a knee injury forced him out of the Giro d’Italia in May, and he will draw solace from his speed here as he looks to the reminder of the season.

The Dutch champion Jakobsen had too much ground to make up in the final metres, though he did recoup some ground within sight of the line to claim third on the stage, ahead of Max Walscheid (Sunweb) and Danny van Poppel (Jumbo-Visma).

Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) missed the opportunity to sprint for stage victory after he was brought down in a crash on the final lap of the 4km finishing circuit, together with teammate Jaco Venter. The Manxman soon remounted and completed the stage, and he will hope for better fortune on the road to Katowice on Sunday.

How it unfolded

Intermittent and heavy showers of rain had buffeted Krakow and its surrounds on Saturday morning, and the early exchanges of this Tour de Pologne opener took place on slippery roads and beneath charcoal grey skies.

A three-man move comprising Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) and the Polish national team duo of Jakub Kaczmarek and Adrian Kurek forged clear early on and built a lead of over three minutes on a peloton that was content to grant them some latitude.

Kurek picked up maximum points at the first intermediate sprint, but endured disappointment shortly afterwards, when his wheels slipped from under him on a rain-soaked stretch of cobbles, leaving just two riders out in front for the remainder of the afternoon.

Planet, by now a veteran of such moves, claimed the king of the mountains jersey after calmly out-sprinting Kaczmarek atop each of the day’s three category 4 climbs, while his breakaway companion will wear the blue jersey of most aggressive rider on Sunday.

Behind, Bora-Hansgrohe – and Maciej Bodnar in particular – performed the pace-making, alongside Deceuninck-QuickStep and UAE Team Emirates, and this coalition of sprint teams helped to keep the break’s lead at around 1:30 or so for much of the afternoon.

As roads dried out on the approach to Krakow, so too did the peloton’s urgency increase, and they pegged back Planet and Kaczmarek with 14km to go, just before they crossed the finish line for the first time.

Just before the juncture was made, a crash in the peloton saw the Cofidis duo of Luis Angel Maté and Filippo Fortin come down, and both men would be forced to abandon the race.

Once on the finishing circuit, Team Ineos helped to ratchet up the pace thanks to an impressive cameo from Vasil Kirienka, and the high speed thereafter ensured that there would be no late attacks to upset the sprinters.

After taking the bell, Cavendish came down in a low-speed crash on a sharp left-hand corner, leaving him no time to regain his place ahead of the inevitable bunch finish. On the last lap, Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-QuickStep) took command of affairs on the front, and when he swung over at the flamme rouge, it was Jumbo-Visma who hit the front on behalf of Van Poppel.

The first sprinter to open his effort in the final was Swift, but the Briton was soon passed by Gaviria, who in turn had to yield to the overwhelming strength of Ackermann.

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