Kooij for the win! Dutchman beats Bennett and Pedersen and increases success Visma | LaB in Tour of Poland

Olav Kooij won the fourth stage in the Tour of Poland. The rider from Visma | Lease a Bike was the best in a more than 200-kilometer stage that ended in a bunch sprint. He already claimed his third stage in Poland. Sam Bennett was second, with Mads Pedersen finishing third. Jonas Vingegaard kept his leader's jersey without any problems.

After the two punchy arrivals, won by Thibau Nys, and the challenging climbing time trial, it was finally up to the sprinters on Thursday. At the beginning of the stage, there were two small hills ahead of the riders, but they should not thwart a sprint. Around 12:30, the men started. Chances for, finally, sprinters like Olav Kooij and Mads Pedersen!

Quite a scare with fall also holding up Vingegaard in pre-final

Before sprinting, it was first up to the Polish home riders. Norbert Banaszek tried in the breakaway and got Spaniard Mikel Azparren of Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team with him. An intermediate sprint ended their adventure early on, with Soudal Quick-Step, Movistar, and Team Visma | Lease a Bike, keeping the pace tight. As a result, the Poles Michal Paluta, Banaszek again, and Kacper Gieryk also had little space. The hilly zone did not cause big names to drop out among the fast men.

The peloton kept it tight, controlling the stage, and thus, riders felt it was enough. A classic slow-paced stage unfolded toward Prudnik, who says slow-paced stage, says crashes. At twenty kilometers from the finish, men from Alpecin-Deceuninck and Groupama-FDJ were suddenly lying at the edge of the road. Yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard was behind, but he came back, and his team then led the way to the sprint for Olav Kooij.

Approach to sprint marked by rain, Kooij takes victory

The crash then caused a lot of nervousness on the not-very-wide Polish roads. However, the real hustle and bustle did not materialize, and a bunch sprint was now imminent. The weather also played a factor, as it started to rain at the finish. At full speed, it headed towards the final kilometers. There it was then, Visma | Lease a Bike, that successfully brought Kooij into position. Mads Pedersen went into the sprint first but was overtaken by the Dutchman, who was simply faster. Bennett still finished second; the Dane of Lidl-Trek was third.

Results stage 4 Tour of Poland 2024

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