After yesterday’s sprint stage, the fast men in the peloton got their chance once more at the Tour de Pologne with a sprint finish into Katowice. Like stage four, it was a controlled afternoon with the peloton keeping the break of three under control while all Team dsm-firmenich PostNL riders remained in the bunch. Things were all back together in the last ten kilometres and the pace began to ramp up. Moving forward as a group, the team looked to position Casper van Uden for the finale, and were in a good position with three kilometres to go. A crash in the bunch split things and strung the group out, but the team remained calm and managed to bring Van Uden back to the fore under the flamme rouge. However, after having spent a lot energy to get back to the front, Van Uden wasn’t able to sprint for a podium result, ultimately taking tenth place at the finish line.
Speaking at the finish Van Uden expressed: “It was another sprint day today and the guys committed for it. Once the break was caught it was very hectic on the run-in and we were unfortunately stuck just behind a crash at around three kilometres to go. We chased back hard and made contact, but because of that I just ran out of legs to go for a real top result in the sprint.”