Sagan pips Martin to Tour of Poland title, as Kittel claims his fourth stage

Peter Sagan claimed victory, at the Tour of Poland, on the final sprint, as Marcel Kittel claimed a fourth stage victory.

Sagan started the day three seconds down, on last year’s winner, Dan Martin, but the bonus points put him five seconds ahead of the Irishman. The Slovakian road champion used Kittle as his lead out man and enjoyed a double celebration, with the German.

Despite seeing his title denied at the last, Martin remained positive about the result. The Garmin-Cervelo rider chased down Wouter Poels, who had leaped off the front with around 500 metres to go, and claimed victory on the tour’s queen stage. It was this victory, as Sagan blew a gasket with 600m to go, that helped the Liquigas rider, on the final stage.

Sagan won two stages, on his way to the yellow jersey; the first came on stage four, just three seconds in front of Martin. He doubled up, on the road to Zakopane, as Martin slipped to fourth and 20 seconds down, on the Slovak. Sagan also claimed the points classification, by 10 points over Vacansoleil’s Marco Marcato, while Kittel finished third.

He may not have won it, but Kittel was probably the star of the entire tour. The Skil-Shimano rider took an unprecedented three straight victories, before claiming the final stage. Kittel, who turned pro in 2008, has enjoyed a bumper year, with 15 stage victories to his name and could prove a pretender to Mark Cavendish’s crown.

Marcato rounded off the podium positions, while his teammate, Michal Golas, took the mountains classification. Vacansoleil earned the team prize, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Sky Procycling and over 2 and a half minutes in front of AG2R La Mondiale. Adrian Kurek gave the home crowd something to cheer about, when he stepped up to take the sprint classification.