Petr Vakoc (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) soloed to victory on stage two of the Tour de Pologne after a day in the break to record the first WorldTour stage win of his career.
The 22-year-old Czech rider sealed victory number 48 of a stunning season for the Belgian super team, and claimed the yellow jersey, after foiling the peloton on an almost pan-flat stage from Torun to Warsaw.
Having rid himself of his two former breakaway companions Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz (Poland) and Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC Polsat Polkowice), Vakoc crossed the finish line in the Polish capital alone, with the peloton seemingly unaware there was still a man up the road.
Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE), who won the sprint for second place, celebrated as though he had won the stage – unaware Vakoc had crossed the finish line some 21 seconds earlier.
It had appeared initially as though it would be a much more straight-forward day than the crash-laden carnage of stage one, when the riders rolled out of Torun.
Kasperkiewicz, Matysiak and Vakoc formed the day’s break, with their lead allowed to stretch to nearly six minutes before the sprint teams set about reeling the trio back in.
Giant-Shimano, who missed out in the stage one sprint after Luka Mezgec crashed late in the stage, were among the teams at the fore while Ag2r-La Mondiale looked to defend Yauheni Hutarivich’s yellow jersey.
Between them, they brought the gap down to nearer four minutes with 33km to go, before Vakoc attacked solo eight kilometres later as he rid himself of the attentions of his Polish companions.
The Czech rider still boasted a sizable advantage with 25 kilometres to go, but with Kasperkiewicz and Matysiak brought back the bunch appeared to ease off the pace slightly.
Vakoc remained alone at the head of the race, putting a superb solo ride which team-mates such as Tony Martin or Niki Terpstra would have been equally proud of.
And the 22-year-old was still nearly two minutes clear as he entered the final six kilometres, with the sprint trains beginning to form in the peloton.
Passing under the flamme rouge alone, Vakoc powered on into the final kilometre to claim the first win of his Omega Pharma-Quickstep career as the bunch left their chasing far too late.
With Vakoc now assured of the yellow jersey, having finished in the peloton on stage one, the bunch crossed the line some 21 seconds later, led by Matthews with his arms raised aloft apparently oblivious to the fact Vakoc had already celebrated victory.
Whether it was miscalculation or failure in communication, however, the record sheet will record only the first victory of Vakoc’s fledgling career as Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s fine season continued.
Tour of Poland 2014: stage two – result
1) Petr Vakoc (CZE) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep – 5.23.54hrs
2) Michael Matthews (AUS) – Orica-GreenEDGE +21”
3) Boris Vallee (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol – ST
4) Ramon Sinkeldam (NED) – Giant-Shimano
5) Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR) – Ag2r-La Mondiale
6) Nikolas Maes (BEL) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep
7) Marco Haller (AUT) – Team Katusha
8) Guillaume Boivin (CAN) – Cannondale
9) Luka Mezgec (SVN) – Giant-Shimano
10) Tyler Farrar (USA) – Garmin-Sharp
General classification
1) Petr Vakoc (CZE) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep – 11.11.28hrs
2) Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +27”
3) Roman Maikin (RUS) – RusVelo +31”
4) Boris Vallee (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol +33”
5) Manuele Mori (ITA) – Lampre-Merida – ST
6) Maciej Paterski (POL) – CCC Polsat Polkowice +35”
7) Matthias Krizek (AUT) – Cannondale – ST
8) Nikolas Maes (BEL) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep +37”
9) Marco Haller (AUT) – Katusha – ST
10) Guillaume Boivin (CAN) – Cannondale
