Dans un final tortueux marqué par une chute, Arnaud Démare se classe 2e, seulement devancé par Phil Bauhaus.
Arnaud Démare has had a brilliant Giro d'Italia with three stage wins and the points classification, and he's looking for that same form this week at the Tour de Pologne where he's had several opportunities to fight for the win.
At the end of stage five where the Frenchman finished second, he said: “It was really fast in the final. We made our effort at the right time, just before the last kilometre, because we knew it was a strategic place where we needed to be positioned”.
The Groupama - FDJ leadout functioned well, keeping Démare out of danger as several riders crashed few places behind. He had few competition, but found himself with a very strong leadout from Bahrain - Victorious that had him contested. “Given the speed we were going at, I felt that I couldn’t do a long sprint, I had to go use drafting and go for it at the last moment”.
“I tried to pass Bauhaus in the last fifty meters, but it did not work out. It was super tiring today, and I did not feel as good as yesterday," the 30-year old detailed. It was not his best week, with this being his best result after several bunch sprints, however it is a motivating sign for the months to come.
“I’m still happy with this Tour of Poland. Obviously, we’d prefer to have a stage victory, but we are physically ready and we just need to be patient," Démare concluded. He will have another opportunity on the final day of the race, building up to the following races.
Dans un final tortueux marqué par une chute, Arnaud Démare se classe 2e, seulement devancé par Phil Bauhaus.