01 Aug 2017

Van Poppel bags second in Zabrze

Related riders

Danny Van Poppel

Danny van Poppel continued his strong sprint showing at the Tour of Poland with a hard-fought second place on stage four.

The Dutchman benefitted from a solid lead-out from his Team Sky team-mates, with the riders in black and blue hitting the front with three kilometres to go.

Diego Rosa and Michal Golas strung out the pace, before Lukasz Wisniowski drove into the final kilometre in Zabrze.

Despite the train of Orica-Scott coming over the top, Van Poppel was able to close in ahead of the line, but was narrowly edged out by Caleb Ewan.

A bike throw across the stripe ensured Van Poppel held off race leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), who extended his overall advantage to 10 seconds.

The bunch kick allowed Wout Poels to retain eighth place overall, now 29 seconds back on Sagan in the yellow jersey battle.

A hefty challenge at 238 kilometres, the stage took place in searing heat (over 36 degrees Celsius), with organisers even having to water the road at the finish line to prevent the asphalt melting.

Six riders pushed on up the road, soaking up the day’s intermediate sprints as the peloton set a tempo behind.

The pace increased over three 6km laps around the football stadium in Zabrze. Remi Cavagna (Quick-Step Floors) pushed clear from the break and made the peloton work hard before the catch was eventually made with 5km to go.

Stage four result:

1. Caleb Ewan ((Orica-Scott) 5:38:49
2. Danny van Poppel (Team Sky) s.t.
3. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
4. Boy van Poppel (Trek-Segafredo)
5. Sacha Modolo (UAE-Fly Emirates)

Overall standings:

1. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 15:41:47
2. Dylan Teuns (BMC Racing) +10"
3. Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) +16"
4. Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) 20"
5. Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Drapac) +25"
8. Wout Poels (Team Sky) +29"