Tour de Pologne Stage 1: Kwiatkowski Top 10 in Technical Sprint Finish

Etixx - Quick-Step rider Michal Kwiatkowski stayed well protected by his teammates all day, and placed 9th in a 122km Tour de Pologne Stage 1, with technical final kilometers and an uphill going into the finish line.

Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) won the opening stage after being led out by two teammates before launching his sprint. Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE) had ideal position into a right-hand corner before the finishing straight, but took the turn wide, which allowed Kittel to get the inside position and pass Ewan for the victory in Warszawa. Niccolo Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida) was 3rd.

A three rider breakaway was caught and passed by attacking riders Vegard Breen (Lotto Soudal) and Patrick Gretsch (AG2R - La Mondiale). Those riders were brought back with 11.2km remaining in the stage. 

Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to 146km Stage 2, from Czestochowa to Dabrowa Górnicza, on Monday. The stage is up-and-down from start to finish, but not much steepness to the climbs. 

"Today Polish fans gave me so much power and energy," Kwiatkowski said. "Thanks to that, in the end I managed not to lose seconds that are important in the general classification. Today we had to be careful, especially before Karowa Street which was the only climb with a KOM. It was important to find the right place in the peloton, and my teammates really helped me do this."