Arvid de Kleijn hopes to heal up for next sprint after crash at Tour de Pologne: "It's a bit of a bummer, but there are still two chances left"

Arvid de Kleijn hoped to take a full swing on the three sprint opportunities at the Tour de Pologne, but his first chance has already gone up in smoke. In the wet final of the opening stage to Poznan he crashed, just before the circuit where the finish was held.

"We were moving along, just like everyone else, and then one rider ended up off the road. He came back onto the road and started a swing," the Tudor sprinter describes his crash to Wielerflits. "We slipped really, really far. Then you know it's done, because it was only five or six kilometers..."

"I rolled to the line slowly. It's a bit of a bummer, but there are still two chances coming up. We'll figure that out," he looks ahead to the upcoming stages.

De Kleijn crossed the finish line with mainly damage to his elbow and forearm, and abrasions to the hip and knee. Still, he sounds optimistic. “Let's take a look. I hope it's not too bad, although it hurts a lot. Now I have two days to let it heal and then I hope to be able to get back to work," he says. Give up hope? "That doesn't happen easily with me."