4 août 2022

Bauhaus sprints to stage win in Poland

Only one day after Santiago Buitrago’s win in the opening stage of the Vuelta a Burgos, Phil Bauhaus was the fastest rider in the bunch sprint that decided stage 5 of the Tour de Pologne. After four podium results in the first four stages, Team Bahrain Victorious thus finally got to enjoy a deserved stage win in Poland.

With riders such aus Heinrich Haussler, Filip Maciejuk and Jonathan Milan, Team Bahrain Victorious bought a strong sprint train in support of Phil Bauhaus to the Tour de Pologne. And while Bauhaus had sprinted to a 2nd place in the opening stage, the sprint preparations got derailed twice with Jonathan Milan as the final lead-out rider contesting the sprint, resulting in two 3rd places for the young Italian. The fifth stage of the race served up another opportunity for the sprint specialists. But for the first couple of hours an eight-rider breakaway took charge of things. Further back the riders in red, orange and black could be seen at the sharp end of the peloton, setting a pace fast enough to keep the early attackers in check.

When the last of those attackers were caught with three kilometers to go, Phil Bauhaus could still rely on three team mates in his support. This proved to be decisive in the frantic finale that followed as a seizable bunch of riders crashed in a corner with about one kilometer to go the finish line. Since Bauhaus and Milan were in the first positions of the peloton, upping the pace against the duo of Guarnieri and Démare, they were not involved in that crash. On the last kilometer Jonathan Milan showed his class, keeping the speed up and releasing his team mate from his slipstream with 150 meters to go. Milan still had enough power left to cheer for his sprinting team mate as the latter jumped for the line. Bauhaus made no mistake and sprinted to the stage win in Rzeszow, crowning the great work of Team Bahrain Victorious throughout the stage.

At the Vuelta a Burgos, the second stage seemed to be set to be decided in a bunch sprint. But on the final kilometer, the fourth-placed rider lost control of his bike, causing a massive pile-up with lost of victims. Since this crash happened on the last three kilometers of the stage, Santiago Buitrago easily defended his overall lead that he had moved into with his stage win the day before.


79TH TOUR DE POLOGNE: STAGE 5, LANCUT - RZESZOW, 178.1 KM
1. Phil Bauhaus, GER/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, in 4:16.19 hours
2. Arnaud Démare, FRA, st
3. Nikias Arndt, GER, st


Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency