CYCLING – Team Bahrain Victorious rider Pello Bilbao had an impressive runner-up finish yesterday in stage three of the 82nd Tour de Pologne, part of the UCI WorldTour.
The leg ended in a sprint from a reduced peloton, with Bilbao finishing just behind the day’s fastest rider Ben Turner of Ineos Grenadiers.
For safety reasons, the race was temporarily neutralised after the final PZU Mountain Prime, and the general classification remained unchanged from the previous stage.
The stage was packed with demanding climbs. The course included three ascents, each of the Walimska Pass and the Niedzwiedzica Pass.
In the final lap, riders also tackled PZU Mountain Prime in Rzeczka.
Earlier in the stage, riders competed for the Special Sprint in Jedlina-Zdroj and the Intermediate Sprint in Walim.
Right after the start, they took advantage of the hilly terrain to launch attacks, attempting to form the breakaway of the day. Several groups emerged, with the first riders to gain a visible gap being Fabio Van den Bossche, Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Remi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ). They were later chased by eight riders: Ide Schelling (XDS Astana Team), Kelland O’Brien (Team Jayco AlUla), Pierre Thierry, Alessandro Verre (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Reuben Thompson (Lotto), Mateusz Gajdulewicz (Polish National Team), Pepijn Reinderink (T-Rex Quick-Step), and Anthony Perez (Cofidis).
At the PZU Mountain Prime on the Walimska Pass, Van den Bossche claimed maximum points, and shortly after, the groups merged. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale moved to the front of the peloton to control the breakaway. Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won all the PZU Mountain Primes on the Walimska and Niedzwiedzica Passes during the first two laps, earning the PZU Best Climber jersey, as well as the DPD Special Prime and the Sprint Prime.
With 80 kilometres to go, attacks erupted in the peloton as Bilbao and Chris Hamilton (Team Picnic PostNL) accelerated. Later, Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) made a move, but all attacks were neutralised.
The increased pace in the main group reduced the breakaway’s lead, causing it to splinter. The strongest among them were Kielich, Van den Bossche, Cavagna, O’Brien, Reinderink, and Perez. Before the PZU Mountain Prime in Rzeczka – won once again by Timo Kielich – Reinderink, O’Brien, and Kielich managed to go clear. Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) also attacked from the peloton and bridged to them briefly.
Reinderink claimed the final PZU Mountain Prime in Rzeczka but was soon caught by the peloton, leaving only O’Brien out front. Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana Team) and Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar Team) then attacked from the chasing group.
The breakaway resumed with a 40-second lead over the peloton and raced towards the finish in Wałbrzych. The pace was high, and the groups came together on the final kilometre. After excellent lead-out work by Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), his teammate Ben Turner sprinted to victory. Bilbao and Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) rounded out the podium.