Tour de Pologne stage 3 neutralised after yellow jersey crashes

Stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne was neutralised with 15km to go following a crash involving the race leader Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-AG2R).

The crash took place with 22km remaining, and the peloton slowed shortly afterwards in the hope the yellow jersey would be able to regain contact.

Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) also came down in the crash, though the Polish champion was quickly back on his bike and in the race.

Shortly afterwards, the three-man break of Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar), Kelland O’Brien (Jayco-Alula) and Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana) was called to a halt by the commissaires and race director Czesław Lang at the 15km to go mark. The peloton was stopped when they came to the same point a minute or so later. 

The entire race was halted for 15 minutes amid a flurry of phone calls among the race direction and commissaires. When the action resumed, the three escapees were waved off once again with a one-minute buffer over the rest of the peloton.

A number of teams in the race indicated they had been told that stage 3 will not count for the general classification as a result of the neutralisation, but the organisation has not yet made a formal announcement.

The stage was ultimately won by Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers). Lapeira crossed the finish line despite his crash, and he remains the race leader following the neutralisation, but it is unclear if he will be fit to continue on Thursday.

"He's pretty beat up, so he's not optimistic about being able to continue," Decathlon directeur sportif Luke Roberts told Domestique. "He was able to ride to the finish, but he had difficulty breathing. The doctor will check him. We're hoping he can continue."

Roberts welcomed the decision to neutralise the stage.

"It was a heavy crash, a lot of riders went down," he said. "With the doctors stopping there and the ambulance stopping there, it was difficult to continue the race, so it was the right decision."