Another weird day at the Tour du Pologne. Stage 3descended into confusion and controversy after a late crash forced a neutralization of the general classification — with Paul Lapeira keeping the yellow jersey and Ben Turner taking the stage win in a bunch sprint that has drawn formal protests.
The 162-km stage from Wałbrzych to Duszniki-Zdrój featured a string of steep climbs, including Przełęcz Walimska and Rzeczka in the final hour. A nine-rider breakaway, including Pepijn Reinderink, Kelland O’Brien and Timo Kielich, built up a lead of over four minutes before being reeled in on the approach to the finish.
With 20 km to go, the race was turned upside down. A crash on a fast descent sent multiple riders into a roadside ditch. That included overall leader Lapeira (Decathlon–AG2R), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Mathias Vacek (Lidl–Trek) and Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates). Lapeira appeared to be in pain. Thankfully, he was able to continue.
What really happened at the end of Stage 1 of Tour du Pologne
Race organizers paused the stage with 15 km to go. Later, they neutralized the general classification, citing the crash and resulting chaos. After a 15-minute stoppage, the breakaway trio restarted the race. This was followed shortly by a peloton that had swelled to include riders who had previously been dropped.
Annnnnd that’s where the complaints began.
Turner, who had been distanced earlier in the day, rejoined the peloton during the neutralization and went on to win the sprint following a textbook lead-out by INEOS Grenadiers. He beat Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Andrea Bagioli (Soudal Quick-Step) to claim his first WorldTour win.
But rival teams were quick to raise objections.
Speaking to WielerFlits, Menno Huising (Visma – Lease a Bike) said: “The only pity is that a group of about thirty riders was able to return to the peloton, while they had actually already been dropped. We had driven full throttle for it and they come back ‘for free’. We are ultimately the victims of that.”
Despite the protests, Turner’s win stands. UCI rules permit a grouped restart if gaps before a neutralization are less than 30 seconds or not properly recorded — both believed to be true in this case.
The end result? Lapeira remains in yellow, Turner takes the stage.
Stage 4 runs from Rybnik to Cieszyn, covering a total of 201.4 km.
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