Thor Hushovd (BMC) made another statement to the BMC team management that decided not to include him in the line-up for the Tour as he powered clear of Mark Renshaw (Belkin) and Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) in the final few metres of the first stage on Polish soil in this year's Tour de Pologne. Rafal Majka (Saxo-Tinkoff) finished safely in the bunch to defend his leader's jersey with another sprint stage coming up tomorrow.

Thor Hushovd has had a troubled time ever since he was hit by a virus during the 2012 season and has failed to deliver the results that earned him a well-paid contract with the BMC team. However, his non-selection for the Tour de France may have spurred a reaction from the former world champion as he has started to clock up wins ever since that announcement.

Today he added a stage win in the Tour de Pologne to his Norwegian road race title and his win in the Tour of Austria when he celebrated the race's return to its home country with a powerful sprint in Rzeszow. Having benefited from fantastic teamwork the entire day, he finished off the strong lead-out from teammate Taylor Phinney and held off Steele Von Hoff and Mark Renshaw in the sprint to the line.

The sprint came at the end of a surprisingly thrilling finale where the small 6-rider teams once again found it difficult to bring back the day's early break. Just 1,5km from the line, Alexandr Dyachenko (Astana), Ricardo Mestre (Euskaltel), Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC) and Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil) were finally reeled in and the expected sprint could ensue.

Rafal Majka safely defended his leader's jersey and hopes to avoid any mishaps in tomorrow's flat stage before the race again hits slightly hillier terrain on Thursday. Starting at 15.00 you can follow tomorrow's stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

4 riders move clear

After two hot and tough days in the Italian Dolomites and an early rest day, the riders had finally reached Poland for today's long 226km stage from Krakow to Rzeszow. Being mostly flat, it was expected to offer the sprinters their first opportunity.

The race started off with a flurry of attacks until Mestre, Dyachenko, Selvaggi and Matysiak were finally allowed to go clear. They managed to build up a big gap of 10.55 before the peloton finally started to chase.

BMC, Argos and Ag2r chase

With 50km to go, the advantage had some down to 5.35 as BMC with Marco Pinotti, Argos-Shimano with Cheng Ji and Ag2r with Gediminas Bagdonas did much of the early work. Those three teams had a number of options for a mass sprint with Hushovd, Luka Mezgec and Yauheni Hutarovich all being potential winners.

Matysiak was allowed to pick up maximum points in both the intermediate sprints and the only KOM sprint while the gap constantly came down. With 40km to go, Renshaw showed his intentions by putting Stef Clement on the front but moments later it was all left to Ji and Pinotti.

Selvaggi attacks

As the peloton crested the summit of the climb with 37km to go, Danny Pate (Sky) moved to the front to prepare the sprint for Ben Swift and for a long time, Pate and Pinotti swapped turns on the front. Up ahead the harmony was broken for a short while as Selvaggi attacked his companions but as it all came back together, the cooperation was resumed.

BMC added more firepower to the chase by putting Mathias Frank on the front and as the peloton crossed the finish line to start the first of three laps on the 6km finishing circuit, the gap had come down to 1.27. Cannondale - working to set up Daniele Ratto for the sprint and keep Ivan Basso out of trouble - was now leading the chase with Cameron Wurf and Maciej Paterski and later the Colombia team also chipped in, working for Jeffry Romero and Leonardo Duque.

Uran does a huge work

On the next lap, it was BMC, Cannondale, Sky and Colombia doing all the work with Rigoberto Uran taking some huge turns on the front. At the next passage of the finish line, the gap had come down to just 59 seconds as a Garmin rider now also took a turn on the front to put Von Hoff into the mix.

With 1 lap to go, the gap was still 28 seconds and the peloton was now digging deep to bring it back together. With 4km to go, the entire Argos-Shimano team hit the front and that acceleration ultimately reeled in the break with 1,5km to go.

Belkin take control

Lotto and Ag2r both had riders on the front but just before the flamme rouge, the Belkin train kicked into action. David Tanner and Robert Wagner led the line but Phinney had put himself into the train by being placed in front of main sprinter Renshaw who had Hushovd in his wheel.

Phinney took a huge turn on the front inside the final 700m and then Renshaw finally opened his sprint Hushovd hesitated for a few seconds before putting the hammer down himself and he had no problems coming around the Australian. Von Hoff narrowly beat Renshaw in a photo finish to take 2nd.

Result:

1. Thor Hushovd 5.10.02

2. Mark Renshaw

3. Steele Von Hoff

4. Grega Bole

5. Tosh Van Der Sande

6. Leigh Howard

7. Michal Golas

8. Yauheni Hutarovich

9. Ben Swift

10. Luka Mezgec

General classification:

1. Rafal Majka 16.14.45

2. Sergio Henao +0.04

3. Christophe Riblon +0.06

4. Pieter Weening +0.07

5. Ion Izagirre +0.09

6. Chris Anker Sørensen +0.09

7. Eros Capecchi +0.13

8. Domenico Pozzovivo

9. Robert Kiserlovski +0.16

10. Thomas Rohregger +0.18

Points classification:

1. Rafal Majka 34

2. Eros Capecchi 28

3. Ion Izagirre 27

4. Domenico Pozzovivo 27

5. Pieter Weening 26

Mountains classification:

1. Thomas Rohregger 27

2. Christophe Riblon 20

3. Bartosz Huzarski 15

4. Chris Anker Sørensen 13

5. Georg Preidler 12

Sprints classification:

1. Bartosz Huzarski 13

2. Serge Pauwels 8

3. Angel Madrazo 5

4. Leonardo Duque 3

5. Cedric Pineau 2

Teams classification:

1. Radioshack 33.16.33

2. Team Saxo-Tinkoff +5.43

3. Argos-Shimano +8.55

4. Cannondale +8.59

5. Movistar +11.40