The 24-year-old spent almost 200 kilometers on the attack.
Paul Magnier spent more than kilometers in the breakaway on stage five of the Tour de Pologne, the second-longest of the week. The Frenchman, who is riding the World Tour race for the second consecutive year, attacked 20 kilometers into the stage together with one other rider, a move to which three more men reacted, leading to the break of the day forming before the first climb.
The quintet used that terrain to increase their gap, but an injection of pace in the peloton cut their advantage to just one minute. This prompted two riders to attack from the bunch and join them, which ended up helping the original breakaway, as their margin went up to more than two minutes. Showing an admirable effort despite being on the attack from almost the start of the day, Magnier continued to trade turns with the others until the final four kilometers, when their spell at the front came to a conclusion.
“I felt good today. Our team’s plan was to be in the break and we did a good job. I booked a place in that group and we worked hard to stay at the front as much as possible, but it was difficult with the large peloton chasing us. But I am content with my effort, it was a solid day”, said Paul before going to the podium to receive his prize for winning the Bonus Sprint.
Kocierz - the final ascent of the day - was used in the past at the race several times, but it was for the first time that a stage finished at the top of this steep hill, which featured some incredibly steep gradients that made a selection as soon as the riders hit its slopes. The victory went to Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates), while Max Schachmann finished the day as the first T-Rex Quick-Step rider over the line.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
