By Igor Leshin
Belarus’ Yevgeny Gutarovich won the starting stage of cycling’s Tour of Poland. He achieved the first victory among Belarusian racers in a season at this level.
Yevgeny Gutarovich wins the starting stage of the Tour of Poland cycling event
The first stage of the 2014 Tour of Poland ran between the cities of Gdańsk and Bydgoszcz, with the racers having to compete in heavy weather conditions. In the course of the stage they were caught in heavy rain and hail and strong, oncoming winds. For this reason, blockages happened on the roads.
Despite the bad weather and objective complexities, Belarus’ Yevgeny Gutarovich, performing for the French cycle team AG2R La Mondiale, appeared the best at finish. His time of 5 hours 47 minutes 40 seconds was 4 seconds ahead of the nearest rival, the Russian, Roman Maikin, from the RusVelo team and 6 seconds ahead of Italian, Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida). The racers finished in a big group, while the recognised sprinters did not manage to distribute their forces at the difficult stage, finishing behind the line of prize-winners.
Thanks to the victory at the first stage, Yevgeny Gutarovich heads the all-round standings of the Tour of Poland.
