Paul Magnier already indicated that he came to Tour de Pologne for a stage victory when he Olav Kooij denied his challenge on the opening day of the race. But three days later in Cieszyn, the story was different. Kooij wasn’t able to join the sprint for win on an explosive local circuit and so nobody stood in Magnier’s way anymore.”We had to survive the climbs and handle the technical lap at the end with cobblestones and many corners. We played it perfectly as a team, and I’m happy I had good legs to finish it off. I’m very happy to take my first WorldTour win here, especially wearing the special T-Rex Gold Soudal – Quick-Step jersey,” said the stage winner afterwards.
Magnier also moves to third place in points classification, but with no more sprint opportunities on the route, the white jersey awarded to the best sprinter in Poland seems out of the Frenchman’s reach.
Tomorrow we could see an interesting battle between the most versatile of fast men who will try to hang on to more explosive riders on the way to popular ski resort in Zakopane.
Paul Lapeira
Magnier’s compatriot Paul Lapeira had a very different experience on the bike on Thursday. The overall leader and stage 2 winner fell hard the following day. But despite some fractured ribs, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider continues in the race and even arrived 17th today. But the real test will come in the next stages.
“It was a tough day, and I wasn’t even sure I’d start. But because of the yellow jersey, I wanted to try. In the end, it wasn’t so bad. My ribs hurt – I have a fracture – but my legs are still really good, so I’m happy to still be in yellow. I have to thank my team – they were all fantastic today and I’m very grateful,” he said.