'Ready to give his best' - Lapeira to start stage 4 despite rib injuries in Pologne crash

Paul Lapeira, the race leader of the Tour de Pologne, was one of the riders involved in the crash on stage 3  that led to a mid-race neutralisation. The incident occurred 22km from the finish line, and the television shots illustrated that the yellow jersey had been one of the riders involved.

Racing continued until 15km to go when the race organisers made the call to temporarily neutralise the race due to a lack of race doctors and the ambulance, which were held up tending to the fallen riders. Once the racing resumed, Lapeira managed to cross the finish line in Wałbrzych in 103rd place but had clearly been impacted, bloodied and bruised, leaving doubts about whether he would be able to take to the start line on stage 4.

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Sports Director Luke Roberts caught up with the media, including Domestique, before the start of stage 4 in Rybnik, confirming that Lapeira would take to the start despite his injuries, which mainly impacted his ribs.

"He [Lapeira] will start the stage, he will give it a go, but yeah he’s obviously possible bruising of the ribs or fractured ribs so he is having difficulty breathing, but he will start the stage, give it a go and we hope to have the race controlled, and set this up for a bunch sprint, and give him a chance to maintain the jersey and another day of recovery, but yeah it won’t be easy for him," Roberts explained.

“We didn’t go to the hospital, he did have an ultrasound, and was checked, but the hospital visit would have cost quite some time and doesn’t change the course of treatment, whether it’s bruised or fractured there’s nothing you can do either, it’s a matter of dealing with the pain," Roberts explained when asked about whether Lapeira went to the hospital in the aftermath of stage 3.

Roberts was also asked about the potential of stage 4, a 201.4km affair which features three categorised climbs, but is suited to a bunch sprint in Ciezyn. “In this year’s race, we’ve just had the guaranteed sprint or the highly likely sprint on stage 1, and then today is the only other one, and there are quite some teams with sprinters here," Roberts said.

“There will be several teams looking to have the race controlled and bring it to a bunch sprint which can hopefully make it an easier day to try to get Paul through, but there are some tough climbs throughout the stage that can make for some tough racing, we’re prepared for that Paul is ready to give his best, but we have to see how he is once he is on the bike.”

On the extent of the impact of Lapeira's injuries, Roberts was asked by Domestique if the team is more optimistic regarding the health of the Frenchman ahead of the start and if it is a case of wait and see when the racing kicks off. 

“Yeah I mean, he knows he has got really good legs, but the fact is that when it’s painful breathing, then at one moment he is going to be breathing heavy too, we will have to sort of wait and see how it is once the intense part of the race comes, how he actually manages those. So fingers crossed, he wants to give it his all to hold on to the yellow jersey, another day or two if possible, but he’s not going to give up easily," said Roberts.

With a potential sprint finish on the cards, Roberts was asked about Sam Bennett's prospects of fighting for the stage win, with the Irishman being involved in a crash on the opening stage.

“Sam had the crash on stage 1, he has been a bit stiff and sore the last couple of days, he still is not feeling 100%, but if it comes down to a sprint today, he will for sure give it a go.”