Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Merida) survived from the day's breakaway to take the seventh and final stage of the Tour of Poland with a gutsy ride.
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) was dropped from the peloton in the last 40km and surrendered the race lead, with second place Pavel Sivakov (Ineos) surviving a flurry of attacks to secure the overall victory.
American Neilson Powless (Jumbo-Visma) finished second on the stage, 55 seconds behind Mohorič, Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafrredo) was third, with Tsgabu Grmay (Mitchelton-Scott) and Paweł Polkański (Bora-Hansgrohe) rounding out the top five.
With Sivakov stepping up to the top step of the podium, Jai Hindley (Sunweb) took second place, two seconds behind the Russian, with Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) third, 12 seconds back.
Tao Geoghegan Hart secured fifth on GC, as Ineos also won the team classification, with Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ) beating Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) in the points classification.
Simon Geschke managed to overhaul Tomasz Marczyński's (Lotto-Soudal) lead in the King of the Mountains competition on the final climb of the race, eventually beating him by just three points.
The Tour of Poland provides Sivakov with his second stage race victory of 2019, having emerged victorious from the Tour of the Alps in April.
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How it happened
Stage seven provided a final tough test for all of those with GC ambitions, with only seconds separating those at the top going into the stage.
A 14-man breakaway was established after 34km of racing, taking out a 1-50 lead over the peloton. Tomasz Marczyński (Lotto-Soudal) was involved as he looked to defend his KoM lead, with Simon Geschke (CCC) also present and ready to challenge the Pole.
After completing the first loop of the course, the breakaway had a 2-55 lead over the peloton with 69km to go, as Jumbo-Visma drove at the front of the bunch.
Matej Mohorič attacked just before the penultimate intermediate sprint, with 56km to go, pushing on and taking out a 57 second gap on the remnants of the breakaway, who were 1-54 ahead of the peloton at this point.
Ineos and Bora-Hansgrohe began to help with the pace-setting at the front of the peloton as they looked to set things up for their GC contenders.
Race leader Jonas Vingegaard cracked with 46km to go as Rafał Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked, with Sivakov, Geoghegan Hart and Ion Izaguirre (Astana) following.
Geschke managed to get himself into the chase group behind Mohorič, aiding his KoM assault, with the Solvenian holding a 43 second gap with 40km to go.
Izaguirre managed to momentarily sneak himself into a group ahead of the main GC contenders but was soon caught. Miguel Ángel López then attempted a couple of attacks, with Formolo also looking strong, but Ineos managed to keep everything together as they attempted to protect Sivakov's virtual lead on the road. With 35km to go the GC group trailed Mohorič by 54 seconds.
Into the final 30km of the race the attacks started to come thick and fast. Formolo went again before Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) hit out but neither rider managed to make it stick.
On the final KoM climb Geschke managed to overhaul Marczyński's points total to take the pink jersey, taking a three point lead over the Lotto-Soudal rider.
With 20km to go, Mohorič had a 34 second lead as the chase group behind started to launch attacks. Brambilla left Poljanski, Powless and Grmay behind, closing to within 24 seconds of the Slovenian, with the GC group only 25 seconds behind.
Geoghegan Hart worked hard for Sivakov in the GC group as Mohorič maintained his lead, even extending it back out to 57 seconds with 7km to go as Daniel Navarro (Katusha-Alpecin) and López attacked.
The Slovenian took out 1-14 over the four chasers with 3km to go, with the GC group a further half a minute behind.
Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) put a team-mate on the front as the Colombian considered his chances of overall victory, upping the pace in the closing kilometres.
Izaguirre then attacked, with Higuita and Majka following before everyone got back on. Mohorič headed under the 1km to go banner with over a minute's advantage and the stage win in the bag.
After the Slovenian crossed the line, pointing to the sky and paying respect to Bjorg Lambrecht, Powless finished second with Brambilla third.
Diego Ulissi then led in the GC group as Pavel Sivakov survived to take the overall victory.
Pavel Sivakov wins the Tour of Poland 2019 (Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Results
Tour of Poland: Stage seven, Bukovina Resort to Bukowina Tatrzańska (153.3km)
1. Matej Mohorič (Slo) Bahrain-Merida, in 4-04-42
2. Neilson Powless (USA) Jumbo-Visma, at 55 seconds
3. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-07
4. Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott, at 1-19
5. Paweł Poljánski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-32
6. Daniel Navarro (Esp) Katusha-Alpecin, at 1-57
7. Kilian Frankiny (Sui) Groupama-FDJ, at same time
8. Pierre Latour (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 2-15
9. Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First
10. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, both at same time
Final general classification
1. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos, in 26-20-58
2. Jai Hindley (Aus) Sunweb, at two seconds
3. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates, at 12s
4. Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First, at 14s
5. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos, at same time
6. Pierre Latour (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 15s
7. Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 16s
8. Chris Hamilton (Aus) Sunweb
9. Rafał Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
10. James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, all at same time
Final points classification
1. Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, 53 pts
2. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates, 50 pts
3. Pierre Latour (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, 44 pts
Final King of the Mountains classification
1. Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC, 60 pts
2. Tomasz Marczyński (Pol) Lotto-Soudal, 57 pts
3. Matej Mohorič (Slo) Bahrain-Merida, 35 pts
Final teams classification
1. Ineos (GBr), in 79-07-11
2. Sunweb (Ger), at 11 seconds
3. Mitchelton-Scott (Aus), at 4-09
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Jonny was Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor until 2022.
I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.
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