"I promised myself to offer the team a new victory" - Gerben Thijssen beats star-studded field to take breakthrough win in Pologne

Gerben Thijssen had entered the Tour de Pologne as an outsider for the sprints, however today he's turned into more than that as he conquered the chaotic finale of stage two with the biggest win of his career.

"I promised myself to offer the team a new victory. But obtaining my first World Tour victory here in Poland, that’s unbelievable!" the Belgian said in a post-race interview. "In addition, I precede several sprinters I admired when I was young, like Mark Cavendish". Having finished 15th on the opening day there were little signs that the 24-year old would be in the battle for the win, but he did more than just that, taking advantage of the chaotic finale.

"Actually, I didn’t feel great in the beginning, but seeing the pulls of Laurens, Hugo, Julius, Quinten and Boy all day long gave me more and more adrenaline when approaching the finish. I really wanted to finish on the podium to reward the work of my teammates, because once more they gave everything to make this scenario possible," he admitted. "I’m very grateful for their confidence since the start of the season and the opportunities I receive from the team".

Thijssen had taken a win at the 4 Jours du Dunkerque earlier this year, and was close to others, but this victory topped all others in his career. "Roger Kluge launched the sprint quite early, around 300 meter before the finish. Pascal Ackermann came with high speed from the back, I could follow him and I immediately felt that I could overtake him to take the victory," he detailed.

"I’m looking to the future with confidence. In this Tour de Pologne I want to do what I can to help Quinten Hermans as close as possible to the victory in the general classification before sprinting in the streets of Cracow on the final day," Thijssen shared. His race is a success already, however there is still room to grab more results over the week.