Enrico Gasparotto figured in the final sprint on a bridge overpass in Bydgoszcz – however prevailing headwinds and a flat finish ruled the Friuliani rouleur out of the finale.

Brajkovic withdrew from the race after a very hard crash sent the Slovenian into a weather-caused pile-up in between shaken trees and sloppy roads.

Guarnieri favoured a right leg in early pedaling, Tiralongo was slowed to get up from a late crash on a roundabout, but not enough he couldn’t help pull competitors from rival squads to their feet.

“Everybody fell except Gaspa and Kamyshev – Brajkovic did something to his feet, he’s out – Tira went down, Aru crashed twice.”

“Two trees blew into the road – the wind was so strong it felt like a hurricane.” DS Dmitriy Sedoun said after the wild stage.

A breakaway of five riders suffered in public for the punishment of a summer thunderstorm over their heads – all slipped and crashed on a left-hand turn, all felt the shearing wind push them sideways and off the road.

Their gap was over 10 minutes and the second half of the cycling season was sleepily underway, a gap in a stage race on a flat day in Poland.

In the finish Astana Pro Team is short one rider after the first day, with General Classification prospects more likely due to come at the end of the week and the three hard days in the Tatar mountains.