“I talked to my coach, who was in the car, and he told me that the best moment to attack was 8 kilometers from the finish. I accelerated a bit later, but it worked out,” said an extremely happy Peter Hansen at the finish of the 4th stage of the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix. The Dane was the best from the breakaway and crossed the finish line in Jasło alone.
The ORLEN Nations Grand Prix moved to Poland. The peloton started from BUKOVINA Resort, Niedzica, and had to cover 175 picturesque kilometers through the green areas of southern Poland.
From the very start, the group stretched out, but no one was able to break away for good. Eight riders managed to do it – Julian Kot (Poland), Aviv Bental (Israel), Louis Leidert (Germany), Filippo D’Aiuto (Italy), Nils Aebersold (Switzerland), Peter Hansen (Denmark), Edvin Lovidius (Sweden), and Philipp Hofbauer (Austria).
For over 100 kilometers, the escapees rode about 2 minutes ahead of the fiercely chasing peloton. Meanwhile, Julian Kot won two mountain prizes – in Kamienica and Popradowa Niżna.
Riders in the front group cooperated well and the situation looked better with each kilometer. In the peloton, only the British and the French, defending the lead in the general classification, were chasing. Some of the escapees were caught, but Peter Hansen and Filippo D’Aiuto managed to stay ahead and crossed the finish line alone in that order amidst the cheers of hundreds of fans.
“I am very happy. Today, I planned to join the breakaway. I am not fighting for the general classification, so this stage was my biggest chance to win,” said a jubilant Peter Hansen, the winner of the 4th stage of the ORLEN Nations Grand Prix.
Matthew Brennan (Great Britain) and Pole Radosław Frątczak took the next positions. “This is one of the races where it’s worth showing up because sports directors from other teams are watching. For the first three days, I thought about this stage and prepared for it,” admitted the Polish rider.
There were no major changes in the top of the general classification. Before the final stage, Mathys Rondel from the French team still leads, emphasizing that today’s stage – although not ending with a climb – was really demanding.
“It wasn’t an easy stage. 4.5 hours of racing with many climbs, plus an 8-man breakaway. My team controlled the breakaway well, and we reached the finish with the time of the main group, which was our goal,” admitted Mathys Rondel, adding that the goal for tomorrow is to defend the ORLEN white jersey.
Pietro Mattio from Italy is still a holder of the green jersey for the KOM classification.
The ORLEN Nations Grand Prix will conclude on Sunday, with a stage from Lesko, powiat leski, to Hotel Arłamów.
