Sam Bennett goes close in Poland but Olav Kooij snatches victory | Video

Sam Bennett, far right, put in what looked like one of the best sprints of his season to date but it wasn't enough to relate Olav Kooij in Poland (Photo: Tomasz Smietana)

Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) went close to taking his first World Tour win for two years today at Tour de Pologne, but the Irishman's fast finish wasn't enough to deny Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike).

The 22-year-old Dutch rider weaved his way through the front of the bunch and found open road, and a clear run to the line, a fraction of a second before Bennett made his move. And that was enough to give Kooij the jump on his Irish rival.

However, Bennett still got the better of some very fast riders today and that result will give him confidence for tomorrow's stage 5, which also looks like one for the sprinters.

In truth, once Kooij hit the front in the final few hundred metres today he surged ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek), after the Dane kicked early, and the outcome of the stage looked like a done deal in favour of the younger man.

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Bennett was more conservative as he opted to wait - perhaps just a little too long - before opening up fully. And though he took 2nd place, he did so in a tight battle with Pedersen for the minor placings rather than posing any serious threat to Kooij.

Still, Bennett got the better of Pedersen, who was 3rd, as well as Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), who were 4th and 5th respectively. It was Bennett's first sprint since he abandoned the Tour de France on stage 17 last month.

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Ryan Mullen, who was part of the lead-out for Meeus today, and Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) both finished in the bunch today, on the same time as the winner; in 85th and 99th.

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retains the race lead, with three stages remaining. He has 19 seconds in hand on Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), with Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) 3rd at 20 seconds. Ryan, who was 4th on yesterday's uphill finish, is best-placed of the Irish, in 20th at 1:50.

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