After a hugely disappointing performance in the Tour de France, the well-funded Swiss BMC team has rebounded with a run of wins in Austria, Wallonie and no fewer than three stages in a row in the Tour of Poland.
Manager Allan Peiper was delighted, though he didn’t go overboard.
“Since Austria you can tell that there’s a different spirit in the team and here in Poland you can tell that they are a happy bunch of riders. And happy riders make a good team,” said Peiper.
“You only have to look at the way they were riding for each other – when guys like (Marco) Pinotti and (Dominic) Nerz were riding in the finale for Hushovd – to see things are good.
“Thor looks fit and strong and I said if he won the uphill sprint in Zakopane, nobody could say that his other wins in July were flukes. That was a tough stage and I’d say Thor was back, no doubt about it.”
And the cherry on the BMC cake was Taylor Phinney taking his first ever pro road race stage win.
“I never had the nerve to try that before, but it was something I dreamed of doing,” laughed Phinney, who finished third in the final time trial stage in his first race back since he quit the Giro, sick.
Taylor Phinney’s late attack on stage four of the Tour of Poland netted him his first WorldTour road race win
Related links
Hushovd takes second stage win in Tour of Poland
Phinney’s late attack nets him Tour of Poland stage four
Hushovd sprints to win Tour of Poland stage three
