Tour of Poland: Thor Hushovd takes first WorldTour victory in two years on stage three. Photo: BMC Racing Team
Thor Hushovd was quickest as stage three of the Tour of Poland came down to a sprint finish.
The Norwegian champion, of BMC Racing Team, pipped Steele von Hoff of Garmin-Sharp by half a length on the line after an excellent lead-out by Taylor Phinney.
Mark Renshaw of Belkin was third in Rzeszow as the stage race came to Poland after two days in Italy.
Poland’s Saxo-Tinkoff rider Rafal Majka retains his lead of the General Classification.
After a steady start out of Krakow, a four-man escape of Alexsandr Dyachenko (Astana), Ricardo Mestre (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil) and Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC) sought to pick up the additional seconds available for breakaway riders in this experimental race, where the rules have been modified to reward aggressive riding.
But they were closed down on the final three-lap circuit into Rzeszow, with just 6km of 226km remaining.
Hushovd proved the strongest after a great lead-out by Phinney, nicking victory ahead of Australian pair Renshaw and Von Hoff. – Eurosport
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