Martin Wins Tour de Pologne
Irish rider Daniel Martin retained his lead in the general classification of the 2010 Tour de Pologne to win the first ProTour race of his career, while Andre Greipel of Germany won Saturday's final stage.
“That’s my first win in the Pro Tour and I’m maybe the happiest man in Poland right know,” Martin told the press after the race.
The Team Garmin-Transitions rider claimed the yellow leader's jersey after Stage 5 on Thursday, and held on to the overall lead until the end of the race.
“When I got the yellow jersey I didn’t want to give it away. I’m really glad that it all worked out well for us,” he added. Martin finished 29th in Saturday's stage.
Triumph for Team Garmin-Transitions
Throughout this year's Tour, the Irishman was well supported by his Garmin-Transitions team mates. The team led the peloton in several stages, dictating the pace of the finishes even when other teams claimed the stage victories.
“I’m very proud that we as a team were the strongest in this race," Martin said of his team's performance.
"We not only won the GC but we were also the best in the team classification. Not too many people had expected that we [would] be able to control the race.”
In Saturday's final stage, Martin had to fend off Grega Bole, who trailed him in the overall standings by only eight seconds going in to the final stretch between Nowy Targ and Cracow in southern Poland.
Despite his strong sprinting ability, Bole finished only one place before Martin in 28th, with both riders noting the same finishing time as Greipel.
Greipel Wins in Sprint Finish
After 37km, the stage's first meaningful breakaway came. Jacek Morajko (Team Poland BGZ), Angelo Ruiz Madrazo (Caisse d'Epargne) and Roy Curvers (Team Skil Shimano) led a handful of riders to gain a 5-minute lead over the peloton.
But together with Team Sky, Team HTC-Columbia, riding in support of Greipel, set a fast pace for the peloton. When 30km remained, the escapees only had 2:30 on the rest of the riders.
With the peloton closing in, Madrazo blazed ahead on the wet roads but was finally caught 4km before the finish line.
Team Sky and Team HTC-Columbia led the peloton to the final sprint, where Greipel got the better of Yauheni Hutarovich (Team Francaise des Jeux) and Robert Forster (Team Milram), who finished second and third respectively.
Having kept Bole's challenge at bay throughout the stage, Martin crossed the finish line in the same yellow jersey he would wear on the podium.
Dutchman Johnny Hoogerland (Team Vacansoleil) outshone the other climbers in the mountains classification, finishing on a total of 88 points in the category, far ahead of runner-up Borut Bozic on 32 points.
Hoogerland also claimed the sprint classification of this year's Tour on 11 points.
Stage 7 winner Greipel won the overall points classification on 20 points.
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