Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,

Friday, August, 7, 2026

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page

Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind. - Elizabeth I

---

Les Woodland's book The Olympics' 50 Craziest Stories: A Five Ring Circus is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing

• August 3 - 9: Tour of Poland
• August 4 - 8: Vuelta a Burgos

Upcoming racing:

• August 13 - 18: Arctic Race of Norway
• August 16: Cyclassics Hamburg

Latest completed racing:

• July 29 - August 2: Tour of Denmark
• August 2: Circuito de Getxo
• August 1: Clasica San Sebastian
• July 28 - 30: Tour de l'Ain
• July 4 - 26: Tour de France
• July 26: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
• July 8 - 12: Tour of Austria
• June 24 - 28: National Championshps
• June 17 - 21: Tour de Suisse
• June 17 - 21: Baloise Belgium Tour

---

Tour of Poland Stage four reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the report from stage winner Bart Lemmen's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Bart Lemmen has won the fourth stage of the Tour de Pologne. The 30-year-old Dutchman was the strongest in a battle with Christian Scaroni on the final climb in Karpacz. It was Lemmen’s first professional victory, despite crashing earlier in the stage. “After so many attempts, I finally managed to win.”

Bart Lemmen wins Tour of Poland stage four. Sirotti photo

“It was an incredible feeling when I crossed the finish line,” Lemmen said afterward. “I had been waiting a long time for my first victory, and today it finally came. It’s special to win in the WorldTour and immediately take the leader’s jersey as well. I still can’t believe it.”

After three sprint stages, the riders headed into the mountains for the first time. They covered 176 kilometers from Żagań to Karpacz. Team Visma | Lease a Bike started the stage with one fewer rider. Anton Schiffer was forced to withdraw from the race after crashing in the third stage, suffering a fractured collarbone.

A four-rider breakaway shaped the opening phase of the stage, but with 40 kilometers remaining, the race was shaken up by a major crash in the peloton. Wilco Kelderman and Lemmen were both caught up in the crash, but both Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders were able to continue. After a brief neutralization, the stage resumed. The four early breakaway riders were caught by the peloton at the start of the final climb.

On the challenging final climb toward Karpacz, Tijmen Graat launched an attack. The 23-year-old Dutchman from Team Visma | Lease a Bike was followed by Marco Brenner and Lemmen. Not long afterward, Lemmen put in a strong acceleration of his own. Chasers Scaroni and Brenner were unable to close the gap to the Dutchman. Scaroni came very close in the final meters, but Lemmen held on by the narrowest of margins. It was Lemmen’s first professional victory since joining Team Visma | Lease a Bike in 2024.

“After the crash, I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to continue,” Lemmen said. “When I got back on the bike, I felt pain everywhere. At that point, the adrenaline took over and I decided to keep going. After the restart, the peloton was riding a little more cautiously, and I took advantage of that to attack. I took the risk of going on the offensive myself, and it worked out well. After so many attempts to win, I finally managed to do it.”

Lemmen heads into the challenging final weekend as the leader of the overall classification. He has a six-second lead over his closest rival, Christian Scaroni. Louis Barré sits sixth, 26 seconds behind Lemmen.

Here's the report from Tour of Poland second-place Christian Scaroni's XDS Astana team:

XDS Astana Team rider Christian Scaroni finished second on Stage 4 of the Tour de Pologne after a strong late chase in the final kilometres.

The 161.9-kilometre stage started in Żagań and finished in Karpacz. The decisive moment came inside the final kilometres, when Christian Scaroni responded to an attack and came agonisingly close to bringing the attacker back, but despite a powerful chase, he fell just short at the finish, crossing the line in second place by the narrowest of margins.

Christian Scaroni finishes second. Sirotti photo.

"I’m disappointed because the victory was so close. On the final climb I stuck to my own pace, saving everything for the last 300 metres. When I saw the rider ahead beginning to slow down, I gave it everything, but in the end I came up just short. Earlier, after the previous climb, Brenner and I hesitated for a moment and the race leader managed to open a small gap. The roads were extremely slippery, so I didn’t want to take unnecessary risks on the descent. The team did an incredible job to position me perfectly before the final climb, and I’m happy with my condition. It was also important to gain some time on the other GC contenders before the time trial, so we’ll keep fighting over the next stages", — said Christian Scaroni.

Here's the Tour of Poland report from third-place Axel Laurance's Team Netcompany INEOS:

Axel Laurance put in an impressive ride to third place on a tough uphill finale to stage four at the Tour de Pologne.

The Netcompany INEOS rider timed his effort well to burst out of the pack and cross the line in Karpacz, 14 seconds back on a breakaway lead duo.

The team worked well to set the tempo on the approach to the climb, before a breakaway group pushed clear on the first-category ascent.

Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike) claimed the win, holding off Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) at the line.

Axel Laurance finishes third. Sirotti photo

Laurance out-sprinted Marco Brenner (Tudor) in the next group home, with teammates Magnus Sheffield and Michal Kwiatkowski finishing in a larger group, 21 seconds back. The duo jumped up to 11th and 14th overall, with Lemmen the new race leader.

Team Picnic-PostNL posted this Tour of Poland report:

The difficulty of the stage finishes at Vuelta a Burgos continued to ramp up this week, with a challenging seven kilometre ascent at nine percent on the menu, before a short descent to the line. Team Picnic PostNL started the day with Bjorn Koerdt wearing the white jersey of best young rider, and had multiple riders well up on GC.

The peloton midway into the stage. Sirotti photo

Coming into the climb the break were caught and a strong tempo from the main GC contender teams was set, and it became a case of everyone riding and fighting to the top as best as they could where Development program rider Matteo Vanhuffel produced an impressive performance to take tenth place on the day.

And here's the Tour of Poland stage four report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Rain accompanied the riders Thursday afternoon as they prepared for the first uphill finish of the week, a stage that ended up creating some interesting gaps between the GC contenders, thus ensuring an exciting battle over the next three days.

The stage was a quiet one until around 44 kilometers to go, when a high-speed downhill crash on wet roads led to the race being neutralized. The organizers took this decision after almost 40 riders hit the ground in that massive pile-up, which then led to the stage being reduced by one lap. Racing resumed more than half an hour later, and soon after this happened, the original breakaway was caught by the peloton.

Sprinter Paul Magnier before the stage start.

On the 7km climb to Karpacz, the peloton got whittled down to around 30 men, before Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike) attacked and soled to victory and the yellow jersey. Former German Champion Maximilian Schachmann came home with a small group that rolled over the line 20 seconds later and made a significant jump in the general classification, where he is now 15th - T-Rex Quick-Step’s best-placed rider - with three stages to go.

Vuelta a Burgos stage three reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the report from stage winner & GC leader Felix Gall's Team Decathlon CMA CGM:

Felix Gall: “This is my first time competing in the Vuelta in Burgos, and I’ve been really looking forward to this race. I’d heard a lot of great things about it, and today’s stage was a great opportunity for me—I don’t win very often; this is only my third victory as a pro. I was able to complete a very good training block, and I feel great. The pace was really fast from the middle of the race onward, but the team did a remarkable job of positioning me and protecting me so I could conserve energy. In the final stretch, I always had a teammate with me. After trying to attack several times, I managed to break away in the final part of the climb. I hope to keep this leader’s jersey because that’s the goal, but above all, I’m happy with how today went.”

Felix Gall wins Vuelta a Burgos stage three.

Key number: 6
That’s how many seconds Felix Gall leads his closest rival, Giulio Ciccone, in the overall standings. He’s taken the leader’s jersey after a showdown among the favorites, with two days to go until the final finish.

And here's the Vuelta a Burgos stage three report from third-place Giulio Pellizzari's Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe:

Giulio Pellizzari delivered a strong performance on the third stage of the Vuelta a Burgos, climbing to third place after a demanding finale on the Puerto del Escudo.
The stage was decided on the fog-covered final ascent, which measured seven kilometres and averaged nine percent. As the pace increased on the steep gradients, the group of overall contenders was quickly reduced and the attacks began around four kilometres from the summit.

Giulio Pellizzarri before the start of 2026 Giro d'Italia stage 13. Sirotti photo

Felix Gall eventually broke clear from the leading group after a series of accelerations involving Giulio Ciccone, Oscar Onley and Enric Mas. Gall distanced the group close to the summit and carried his advantage onto the descent towards the finish.

Behind the stage winner, Giulio continued to ride strongly through the closing kilometres. The young Italian passed a fading Onley and secured the final place on the stage podium alongside Gall and Ciccone.

Giulio crossed the line 11 seconds behind Gall, recording his first podium result of this year’s Vuelta a Burgos. The performance also moved him up the overall standings, where he now sits sixth, 43 seconds behind new race leader Gall. Two stages remain in the five-day race.