Tim Merlier takes sprint win in rain affected stage 1 of the Tour de Pologne

On a truly horrific day weather-wise, it was Tim Merlier that emerged from a chaotic and rain-affected sprint finish victorious on stage 1 of the Tour de Pologne.

After the day's breakaway was caught relatively early on with 50km to go, the expected bunch sprint finish always looked likely to take place. As the rain poured in Poland, the high wind was causing havoc with the barriers at the finish line.

Heading into the final kilometres altogether, the peloton battled for positioning ahead of the sprint with two crashes in the final 6 kilometres. Once the sprints opened, Tim Merlier was the man who proved fastest, defeating Olav Kooij and

Results powered by FirstCycling.com