Team Sky's Ben Swift claimed his second stage win at the Tour de Pologne after sprinting to a superb victory in Zakopane.
The British rider came from several metres back in the final kilometre to beat Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Pim Ligthart (Vaconsoleil-DCM) to the line on stage five.
The show of strength extended Swift's lead in the points classification, while Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) hung onto top spot in the overall standings by one second ahead of Moreno Moser (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Swift's team-mate Ian Stannard also animated the race in the closing stages, the British champion joining a four-man breakaway that helped keep the peloton together going into the finish.
After Swift had crossed the line first, fellow Team Sky riders Sergio Henao, Rigoberto Uran and Lars Petter Nordhaug stayed safe towards the front of the main group, with Henao even managing to secure an impressive ninth place.
Swift's reaction
“I’m really happy with the result. It was quite a long sprint and I had to go really early as I saw that (Michael) Matthews and (Elia) Viviani had a good gap
“Stages like that are always strange as it depends how the peloton race it. The climbs weren’t too difficult but it could have been a different story if the GC guys had really hit out. I felt really good and I could ride at the front up the climbs, as well as having some great protection from the guys. Once I knew I was climbing well and saw that I could respond to a few attacks it gave me a lot of confidence for the sprint.
“I knew that the form was good coming into the race but I’ve had a little bit of bad luck along the way. I had the puncture on the first stage and then I got the win which was really nice. Yesterday I was quite disappointed as the guys did such a fantastic job. To get beat on the line was disappointing, not only for myself but for the guys after they’d done such a good job. Today it was nice to get another win and pay them back.”
Stage 5 Result
1 Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling 4:01:22
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
3 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
Other
105 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
151 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Sky Procycling
General Classification after stage 5
1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 22:08:54
2 Moreno Moser (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:01
3 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:09
Other
58 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
76 Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling
149 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Sky Procycling
