Ben Turner times effort to perfection on stage 3 of Tour de Pologne as mid-race crash sees GC neutralisation
It was a chaotic finish to stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne as the British rider claimed an impressive sprint victory.
Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) claimed the 2nd victory of his professional career, after sprinting to victory on stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne.
The 26-year-old launched his sprint with 200 metres to go, gaining more than a bike-length over his opponents, which would not be closed. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) sprinted to second, whilst Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) ended the stage in 3rd.
The stage was marred by a crash involving the yellow jersey with around 22km remaining, which led to a temporary neutralisation with 15km remaining.
The race leader, Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), was involved in a crash with 22km remaining on a fast and tricky descent. The Polish champion, Rafał Majka (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), was also one of the riders involved in the crash, as was Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious).
As a consequence of the crash, the pace in the peloton completely fizzled out, allowing the front trio of Kelland O’Brien (Jayco AlUla), Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana), and Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) to extend their gap inside the final 20km and give themselves a great shot at victory in Wałbrzych.
However, with 15km to go, the race was temporarily neutralised due to the crash involving the yellow jersey, due to the lack of medical vehicles available, as they were attending the incident and treating those who were involved.
When the race eventually resumed, the front trio were given a headstart of 40 seconds over the peloton, and teams involved in the race have indicated they had been told that stage 3 would not count for the general classification as a result of the neutralisation, but the organisation has not yet made a formal announcement.
It was Visma | Lease a Bike who committed to the chase of the front trio once the action resumed, and the catch was made with less than a kilometre remaining. Michał Kwiatkowski delivered the lead-out for Turner, who finished off the job with an excellent sprint.
Due to the neutralisation of the GC times, Lapeira, who was able to finish, continues to lead the Tour of Poland at the end of stage 3, but it remains to be seen what the extent of the yellow jersey wearer's injuries are and if this will impact his ability to start stage 4 on Thursday.
