Rafal Majka claims second stage win, overall lead in Tour of Poland
Majka fights off the two Spaniards he faced the day before to win by 10 seconds in Bukowina Tatrzanska
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BUKOWINA TATRZANSKA, Poland (AFP) — Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) won at the Tour of Poland for the second day running on Friday, triumphing in stage 6 to seize the overall race lead from Petr Vakoc (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).
Just as he did on Thursday, Majka out-sprinted Movistar duo Benat Intxausti and Ion Izaguirre to win at the Polish ski resort of Bukowina Tatrzanska.
The peloton faced a hilly 174km circuit course around the Polish resort area, combining three 5.3km laps of Zakopane, followed by four 38.4km laps near Bukowina Tatrzanska.
Six riders comprised the early breakaway: Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge), Damiano Caruso (Cannondale), Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat-Polkowice), Sergei Chernetski (Katusha), Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale), and Sergey Lagutin (RusVelo).
They were soon joined by Johannes Fröhlinger (Giant-Shimano) and Davide Malacarne (Europcar).
Though the escape had up to a four minute advantage at times, the peloton began eating into their lead with about 80 kilometers left to race.
Caruso tried to initiate a smaller selection to preserve the breakaway, but they were caught by the peloton on the final circuit, with about 20 kilometers to go.
Attacks flew in the final 10 kilometers, cleaving a lead group of 30 riders off the front of the field.
Majka would not be denied a second victory, fighting off the two Spaniards he faced the day before to win by 10 seconds.
The top-three places in GC remains the same, with Majka extending his lead over Intxausti to 18 seconds. Izaguirre sits third, 22 seconds behind.
The climbing specialist Majka will face a tough task to hold onto his lead when the seven-stage race concludes Saturday with an individual time trial in Krakow.
