Irish rider Daniel Martin (Garmin Transitions) won the first mountain stage of the Tour de Pologne yesterday in a move launched with 4 kilometres to go.

The stage went from Jastrzebie Zdroj to Ustron in the south of Poland, on the Tatra mountains, on the border with Czech Republic and Slovakia. The 149-kilometer stage finished with a tough circuit, the peloton riding around the 17.2-kilometer long circuit for five times, riding the first-category climb of Zameczek five times before the final ascent to Ustrom.

The stage was animated by a group of 5 riders including Australian Ben Swift (Sky), Dutch cyclamen jersey holder Jhonny Hoogerland and teammate Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) plus Poland’s Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas Domo) and Marcin Sapa (Lampre), who broke away from the group. After the first three climbs, they were joined by Poland’s Mateusz Taciak (Polska BGZ) and Germany’s Martin Reimer (Cervelo). Following the fourth lap on the mountain climb, a further attack action was carried out by the Vacansoleil team duo composed by Bozic and Hoogerland - aiming at accumulating points for the cyclamen jersey - together with Swift and Taciak. The fugitives were joined by the peloton at around 25 kilometers from the arrival. During the final ascent Martin (Garmin Transitions) broke away from the peloton and managed to cross the finish line in solitary in Ustron. Behind him were Slovenia’s Grega Bole (Lampre), second, and Poland’s Sylverster Szmyd (Liquigas Doimo), third, plus Italians Mauro Santanmbrogio (BMC Racing) and Diego Ulissi (Lampre) in fourth and fifth place respectively. Thanks to this win, Martin also conquered the race leader “Skandia” yellow jersey and he is now first in the overall standings with 14 seconds of advantage on Grega Bole (Lampre) and 21 seconds on Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing).

“It was a wonderful day” -  Martin said at the finnish “I had all of my team at my service. Last week I ended second in a stage at Brixia Tour, but winning, and doing so in a Pro Tour race, is a whole different story. Today’s track was beautiful, very spectacular for the fans, too, I think. There were many attacks from other riders, but my team had excellent control of the race. Luckily it didn’t rain during the downhill traits, so the road was dry. We’re going to have a very challenging stage tomorrow but I’m lucky as I have a great team by my side as well as a mountain specialist like Danielson who will be able to help me during the climbs. I will do everything I can to retain the yellow jersey until we get to Cracow. My legs are doing well so far, so I’m confident.”

Jhonny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) consolidated his lead for and retained the “Tauron” cyclamen jersey. The “Fiat” red jersey for most active rider stays with Janyaczik Blazej (Polska BGZ), while the “Plus” blue jersey for highest points in the standings is still in the hands of Allan Davis (Astana). Team Garmin Transitions is now leading the team standings. Spanish rider Xavier Tondo Volpini (Cervelo Test Team) didn’t start the race today after fracturing his clavicle due to a fall in the fourth stage of the race.

Crucial stage for TdP 2010 to take place Tomorrow

After the start in Oswiecim and a brief stop at the concentration camps in Auschwitz, where the peloton will observe a minute of silence to commemorate holocaust victims, the athletes will ride 22.5 kilometers with 6 first-category mountain climbs and an uphill finish in Terma Bukowina Tatrazanska.

Stage classification

1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Transitions 3:51:13

2 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:00:20

3 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo

4 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team

5 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini

6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank

7 Michael Albasini (Swi) Team HTC - Columbia

8 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Poland BGZ

9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin - Transitions

10 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team

General classification after 3 stages

1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Transitions 20:52:11

2 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:00:14

3 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:21

4 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo 0:00:26

5 Michael Albasini (Swi) Team HTC - Columbia 0:00:28

6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank 0:00:29

7 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Poland BGZ 0:00:30

8 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini

9 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team

Photos  © Tour de Pologne