Michal Kwiatkowski doubles up in Tour of Poland and extends lead

Michal Kwiatkowski described attack as the best form of defence after picking up a stunning second win in as many days at the Tour of Poland.

The Pole launched an audacious long-range sprint with 400 metres to go and fought off the hard charging Dylan Teuns (BMC) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) to take a brilliant win on day five.

The stage was heading for a traditional bunch kick but, with a slightly uphill finish, Kwiatkowski tried his luck early and none of the sprinters could get back on terms. Ackermann came closest to overhauling him, but faded in the final 100 metres.

“The best form of defence is attack. We stuck to that plan and it was perfect. We didn’t know what the final would be like but when we entered the final circuit I said to the boys on the radio that it’s a sprint I could fight for”, said Kwiatkowski.

“I had an amazing leadout. Golas started, then Pavel, and Salva was there. All the time I was protected at a high pace and then it was the longest sprint, maybe ever! It was very difficult – I’m more fatigued than yesterday because of the length of that sprint.

“At the end of the day Teuns was on my back and I knew I had to start my sprint earlier than Pascal Ackermann, and that’s how we’ve ended up. Everything worked out.”

https://youtu.be/TspuLH3Rqe0?t=148

Tour of Poland 2018 – stage 5 results (Wieliczka – Bielsko-Biala):

General classification after stage 5: