For the second day in a row, Tinkoff-Saxo had to do a massive amount of work in the peloton to keep an early break under control as the sprint teams failed to live up to their responsibility in the Tour de Pologne. Having reduced the damage, the team is pleased to have come safely through another stage.

With no sprinter on the roster, Tinkoff-Saxo probably hadn't expected to be forced into work mode in the first two stages of the Tour de Pologne. However, the team has spent a big part of the first days riding on the front to avoid the escapees getting too much of advantage.

Today the team was again on the defensive as Bruno Pires was forced to chase in the second half of the second stage to reduce the deficit to a three-rider break from which lone winner Petr Vakoc emerged. Sports director Tristan Hoffman was pleased to have avoided too big time gaps that could have taken Rafal Majka out of contention.

“A stage very similar to yesterday’s except from the weather conditions but our main goal was to get through the day without crashing," he said. "As the gap was still more than 7 minutes with 50 kilometers remaining, we jumped in the engine room of the pack to reduce the gap.

"We had no intention to win today’s stage but it was important to narrow down the time difference and we succeeded in doing so and let the sprinter teams take over in the finale. Tomorrow, I expect a bunch sprint and we have to stay clear of trouble."