Yauheni Hutarovich (Ag2r-La Mondiale) sprinted into the leader’s jersey after a crash-laden first stage of the Tour of Poland.
Despite starting in idyllic conditions, treacherous weather en-route saw the race beset by a number of incidents, with three riders forced to abandon and Giro d’Italia stage winner Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) crashing during the bunch sprint.
It left Belarusian champion Hutarovich to sprint to his third victory of the season, and first in the Tour of Poland since 2010.
A five-man break had earlier been given license to build up a big lead by the bunch, with Jimmy Engoulvent (Team Europcar), Anton Vorobyev (Katusha) and Matthias Krizek (Cannondale) ensuring there was WorldTour experience in the move.
They were joined by home riders Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat Polkowice) and Kamil Gradek (Poland) and at one point the quintet had earned an advantage of more than 12 minutes on the grueling 226km opening stage.
Tinkoff-Saxo, with Tour de France polka dot jersey winner Rafal Majka in their ranks, were among the teams to hit the front and brought the gap down to just four minutes when, with 50 kilometres to go, a freak storm battered the riders.
Rain, hail and strong winds caused carnage both in the break and the bunch, with the debris of the storm causing a number of crashes in the peloton.
Big splits in the bunch formed as a result but most of the chief GC contenders, including Majka, Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida), Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), Warren Barguil (Giant-Shimano) and defending champion Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEDGE), stayed safe.
But Giro d’Italia third place finisher Fabio Aru (Astana) and King of the Mountains Julian Arredondo (Trek Factory Racing) were among the big names to miss out, with the former’s team-mate Janez Brajkovic one of three riders forced to abandon.
Sander Armee (Lotto-Belisol) and Niccolo Boifazio (Lampre-Merida) were also forced to quit the race, while sprinters including Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp), Ben Swift (Team Sky) and Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEDGE) saw their hopes of a stage win evaporate.
With the rain-soaked roads on the closing circuit adding to the treacherous conditions, the entire breakaway also fell with some 20 kilometres to still to race.
Any slim hopes they had of staying out were obliterated by the crash, though all five were able to resume riding, with Paterski the first to remount and earn a small lead.
With one lap to go, the Pole – joined by Engoulvent and Krizek – held a slender advantage over the bunch as Giant-Shimano led the sprinters behind them.
Paterski made a final, solo bid for stage success but he was caught – prompting Peter Velits (BMC Racing) to mount an audacious lone attack.
The Slovakian, too, was brought back as Giant-Shimano looked to have seized the road position for Mezgec. Disaster struck for the Dutch team, however, as Mezgec crashed heavily into the barriers after a touch of wheels.
And Hutarovich, riding in the Belarusian national champion’s jersey, seized the initiative, launching a perfectly-timed sprint.
Roman Maikin (RusVelo) and Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida) claimed second and third respectively, but it will be Hutarovich who swaps his green and red stripes for the yellow jersey of race leader ahead of stage two.
Tour of Poland 2014: stage one – result
1) Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR) – Ag2r-La Mondiale – 5.47.50hrs
2) Roman Maikin (RUS) – RusVelo – ST
3) Manuele Mori (ITA) – Lampre-Merida
4) Guillaume Boivin (CAN) – Cannondale
5) Marco Haller (AUT) – Team Katusha
6) Nikolas Maes (BEL) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep
7) Boris Vallee (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol
8) Sebastian Lander (DEN) – BMC Racing
9) Davide Formolo (ITA) – Cannondale
10) Enrico Gasparotto (ITA) – Astana
General classification
1) Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR) – Ag2r-La Mondiale – 5.47.40hrs
2) Roman Maikin (RUS) – RusVelo +4”
3) Manuele Mori (ITA) – Lampre-Merida +6”
4) Maciej Paterski (POL) – CCC Polsat Polkowice +8”
5) Matthias Krizek (AUT) – Cannondale – ST
6) Guillaume Boivin (CAN) – Cannondale +10”
7) Marco Haller (AUT) – Team Katusha – ST
8) Nikolas Maes (BEL) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep
9) Boris Vallee (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol
10) Sebastian Lander (DEN) – BMC Racing
