Israel Start-Up Nation finished off Tour de Pologne with an impressive performance by Alexis Renard who took second place on the stage after the early breakaway managed to hold off the sprinters in a nail-biting finish.
After several strong performances throughout the race, Renard showed off the ISN team colors once again on the final day of racing. The young Frenchman infiltrated a small but strong breakaway early in the stage, which ultimately proved too strong for the peloton to bring back.
On the final kilometer, the sprinters could see the quartet right in front of them but they didn’t manage to catch them before the line. Renard took the wheel of Julius van den Berg (EF Education – Nippo) but despite a strong effort on the final meters, he had to settle for second place.
This is the third podium spot for Renard in the recent month of racing, once more proving to be in incredibly good shape at the moment.
Alexis Renard: “This morning, we talked about the possibilities of a breakaway staying away and Matthias [Brändle] told me that with the tail wind all day, the break could make it all the way. It was a really strong group that got away and we went full gas until the end. During the last lap, I was thinking about how I could take the win. I saw that Van den Berg was the strongest in the group so with 300 meters to go, I pretended to start my sprint. Van den Berg saw that he started his own sprint. I tried to pass him on the final meters but he was too strong. However, I don’t have any regrets.”
