With no sprinter on the roster, Tinkoff-Saxo went into stage 4 of the Tour of Austria with a plan to attack. Young Pole Pawel Poljanski joined the early break and nearly made it to the finish.

It was another mountainous stretch waiting to welcome the peloton on the 172 kilometer long fourth stage of Tour of Austria from Kitzbühel to Matrei where three climbs were on the menu.

And Tinkoff-Saxo’s Pawel Poljanski took advantage of the terrain and leaped away in a stage win mission with four other riders and with 30 kilometers to go, everything seemed bright for the young Tinkoff-Saxo rider. But only 5 kilometers to go, they were reeled in and the stage was decided in a bunch sprint where Oscar Gatto was the fastest.

Tinkoff-Saxo’s Oliver Zaugg finished in the pack and retained overall 4th.

“Pawel had a very good chance of making it today but the sprinters wanted to close the gap and with 5 kilometers to go, it was all over. Then, we tried to put Jay (McCarthy) in a good position but he didn’t make it into the top-10. Tomorrow, the big climb to Grossglockner is on the menu and we’re hoping to put Oliver (Zaugg) in a good position,” said DS Tristan Hoffman.