Christen finishes 4th in disrupted Tour de Pologne stage 3, Molano third in Burgos

Wednesday afternoon brought a third-place finish for Sebastián Molano in stage 2 of the Vuelta a Burgos, with Jan Christen following up with a fourth-place finish for UAE Team Emirates-XRG in stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne. Christen’s result, however, came on a day marred by a big crash within the final 20km.

Owing to the need to get ambulances towards the front of proceedings, the stage was briefly neutralised, with time gaps not counted towards the general classification.

As a result, only the stage honours were up for grabs in the old mining city of Wałbrzych.

Christen gave it a good go and punched his ticket for the raffle, but the young Swiss rider was ultimately swamped by those who had returned to the peloton following the neutralisation.

Although the peloton had dwindled down to around 20 riders as the race came to its crucial moments, the group swelled back to its usual size after the neutralisation, making the eventual sprint hotly contested.

As Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) picked up the day’s top prize, Christen made his way up to third place in the general classification, owing to the unfortunate abandonment of Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek).

Both Rafał Majka and Filippo Baroncini of UAE Team Emirates-XRG hit the deck in the crash, with Majka able to remount his bike and finish in the first group over the line. A full medical report will be distributed on the Emirati squad’s social media accounts on Wednesday evening.

Speaking after the finish, Christen’s thoughts were with those affected by the crash, as he saw his race disrupted by the neutralisation.

Christen: “I did not have the best legs all day, but then when we started the steep climbs I started to feel good and I saw that the other guys suffered a lot. I was pretty excited for the last steep kicker to try something there.

“But unfortunately, there was a crazy crash, and then we stopped the race. It is a bit of a pity because I had really good legs and I felt I could go into the yellow jersey today and take some seconds back, but I hope all the guys involved are ok and tomorrow we will go again.”

At the Vuelta a Burgos, Sebastián Molano showed a fine burst of speed to finish in third place on stage 2. Coming to a head with a sprinters’ showdown in Buniel, the second stage was always destined to be one for the fast men, and so it proved.

After a routine 150km through the Burgos region, the teams of the sprinters prepared their trains for the final 10km. It was here that UAE Team Emirates-XRG rallied around Molano and piloted the Colombian into position. Making his return to racing after a month in his home country, the 30-year-old was raring to go as the peloton ducked inside 1km to go.

Rui Oliveira produced his reliable lead-out before Molano launched his sprint some 100m from the finish line. It was here that three riders spread across the road and vied it out for the day’s honours. Alongside Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana Team), Molano made his bid for the line, with each rider throwing their bike in an attempt to gain the upper hand.

As it was, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG sprinter was forced to settle for third place. Taking positives from his performance, however, Molano was upbeat about the week to come.

Molano: “I’m happy with my sprint, though I would have dearly loved the win. It was a very fast finish and the guys did well to put me in the right position. The riders coming from behind carried a lot of speed and it was hard to hold them off on the last straight. “There are a lot of hills from here until the end but it’s possible there may be another chance on stage 4. The legs are good and I’m hungry to go for a win this week.”

Agencies