Turner wins stage 3 of Tour de Poland, but victory overshadowed by neutralization and Lapeira's withdrawal

After a flat stage won by Olav Kooij, the second stage was for the punchers. At the top of the difficult finish towards Karpacz, it was Paul Lapeira who took the victory with a powerful sprint. The Frenchman from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale also took the leader's jersey and could look forward to another chance for victory: the third stage was never really flat and was therefore a great opportunity for the fast climbers.

Such a route lends itself to a strong breakaway group to have a chance. On Tuesday, we saw Max Walker (EF Education - EasyPost) competitive until the final, which inspired many riders to try the same. After a fast-paced first half hour, a dozen riders broke away. Among them were Dutchmen Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) and Ide Schelling (XDS-Astana).

They were joined by, among others, Belgians Timo Kielich and Fabio Van den Bossche of (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The group also included Pierre Thierry (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ), Reuben Thompson (Lotto), Kelland O'Brien (Jayco-AlUla), and Mateusz Gajdulewicz (Polish national team). It was a strong group with a lot of quality: the maximum lead was around 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, the altitude meters were quickly adding up. This meant that the leading group was being thinned out considerably. Schelling was dropped soon, and after Van den Bossche, Kielich (who took the mountain jersey), and Cavagna were also dropped, the two strongest riders remained: Reinderink and O'Brien. They pushed each other hard on the Przelecz Walimska, the penultimate climb of the day. But it did not improve their lead.

UAE Team Emirates - XRG had taken the lead, and so the depleted peloton quickly closed in on the front of the race. A counterattack by Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) and Matthew Riccitello (Israel - Premier Tech) was neutralized, while Reinderink realized the uselessness of his breakaway and let himself drop back. O'Brien was caught not much later, and so we prepared ourselves for a battle in the GC.

Before the climbers could show their stuff, there was a nasty crash. Six riders ended up in the ditch on a tricky corner, including leader Lapeira and Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates). The yellow jersey wearer was hurting the most: he was feeling his ribs and lay on the ground for a long time. Fortunately, Polish champion Majka was able to rejoin the race, but he seemed to be in considerable pain from his arm.

Meanwhile, O'Brien had extended his lead on the descent, but he had been joined by two riders: Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) and Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana) had caught up. On the challenging final climb (1.2 km at 8.8%), they left the Australian behind. The Italian duo seemed to have gained two minutes on the pack, but suddenly the organization intervened: the race was neutralized due to the nasty crash.

This sparked a lengthy discussion, because of how the race should continue. After much debate, it was decided to give the three leaders (O'Brien was allowed to rejoin) a 40-second lead, but this would only apply to the stage win. No time differences were given, which meant that Lapeira would keep the leader's jersey if he finished. However, there was still no sign of the unfortunate Frenchman in the peloton...

Later, the bad news was confirmed that Lapeira was unable to continue. This meant that the yellow jersey would go to Vacek, should he make it to the finish. Meanwhile, the battle for the stage victory was well underway: Visma | Lease a Bike worked hard for Matthew Brennan, but the trio still maintained their 40-second lead. In the hilly final kilometers, the peloton struggled to catch up with the leaders.

But the front men still seemed to be at a disadvantage in the final. The peloton had also grown considerably so that several teams could dream of a sprint again. But with 2 kilometers to go, the gap was still not closed. Would they make it? The fact that the peloton split up in the final uphill sections was not a good sign.

In the final kilometer, a dozen riders managed to catch up with the breakaway, and the eventual winner seemed to come from that group. However, Lotto brought everyone back together again: it was complete chaos. Ben Turner (INEOS) was by far the strongest in the chaos, ahead of Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek).