Yauheni Hutarovich Wins Stage 3 in Poland
Belarussian sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich won his first stage on the ProTour in the Tour de Pologne on Tuesday, narrowly defeating his competitors after a sprint finish in Stage 3.
Tuesday's stage was short, just over half the length of Monday's 240km stretch, but that's not to say that it did not rest the riders.
With the shorter distance came a faster pace, as the riders rode seven 11km-laps around Katowice in southern Poland. The stage culminated in a downhill sprint after no less than 18 short but steep climbs.
"This win is special to me since it's my first victory in a ProTour race," Hutarovich told the press after finishing in 2:45.04, only half a wheel's length ahead of Lucas Haedo from Team Saxo Bank.
The steep downhill sprint, which started just over 2km before the finish line, brought out the best in Hutarovich, who since 2008 rides for Team Francaise des Jeux.
"The final kilometres were very fast since the road was going downhill," he said.
"It was hard to spin my legs faster. It's an important victory for me and for our team and I'm really glad that I was able to beat such specialists in the sprint like Allan Davis and Borut Bozic, added Hutarovich.
Australian Alan Davis, who finished third after Haedo, retains his overall lead in the race.
Several Unsuccessful Breakaways
Early on in the stage, Simon Geschke (Team Skil-Shimano) and Sebastien Rosseler (Team RadioShack) broke away from the peloton, gaining a 90-second lead after 40km.
But with the trailing riders whipping up a strong pace, the duo struggled to hold on. Team HTC-Columbia led the peloton, which caught up to the pair with 59km to go.
A few other mid-race breakaway attempts were made, but the peloton was too strong to let the riders get away.
After 98km, Danilo Napolitano (Team Katusha), Mirco Lorenzetto (Team Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Dominique Rolin (Cervelo TestTeam) made a bold attack in the middle of a category 3 climb.
But with 8km to go until the finish, the trio, which had been joined by Peter Velits (Team HTC-Columbia), were once again absorbed into the peloton.
Climactic Finish
Team Vacansoleil worked hard to set up sprinter Bozic for the stage win in the final stretch of the stage, but it was Hutarovich who triumphed in the sprint.
In rainy conditions on a speedy descent, the two-time Belarussian road race champion did well to claim the stage win.
"It was difficult and technical course with over 17 turns on every lap," he said after the finish.
Hutarovich is now second in the overall standings, four seconds behind Davis and four ahead of Team Astana's Aitor Galdos Alonso.
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