Enrico Battaglin has sprinted to third place in the fifth stage of the Tour of Poland. In the bunch sprint on an uphill finishing straight, the 28-year-old Italian came a little too late with his jump to be able to claim the stage victory.

“I’m happy with the result, although I think I could have done better. I’m proud of how the team rode for me today”, Battaglin responded to his podium.

Sports director Grischa Niermann shared that opinion. “We’re happy with the podium, but I think we could have done better. Enrico got boxed in in the sprint, which meant that he had to start from too far. That’s a pity, because we could have achieved a better result.”

Team LottoNL-Jumbo leader George Bennett finished in the peloton and remains third in the general classification. “George came through the day well”, Niermann continued. “This was certainly no stage finish for him. You can also see that in the result because there were also pure sprinters who competed for the stage victory. Luckily, he didn’t lose any time, but his two main competitors Kwiatkowski and Teuns gained some extra bonification seconds. But the form is good and we’ll see tomorrow in the queen stage where this can lead to.”