Photos: International Tour of Hellas / Nassos Triantafyllou, Petros Gkotsis
Polish fast man Stanisław Aniołkowski rounded a successful week at the International Tour of Hellas by sprinting to victory on the final stage in the tight streets of Ancient Olympia.
Having won on the opening day, the 26-year-old bookended a great week in Greece after another dash to the line, where once again, he pipped the overall winner Iúri Leitão (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) by a hair’s breadth.
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“It feels great to win for the second time in this race,” Aniołkowski said afterward. “It seems like I have finally unlocked my potential, and my team believes in me, doing a great job to set me up for my best sprint.”
In the shadow of the most historic monument to sport in the world, Olympia – the site of the ancient Olympic Games – Aniołkowski flew out of the front of the peloton alongside the young Portuguese rider, benefiting from the work of his teammates as they perfectly set him up for victory after perfectly navigating the 4.7%, 0.9km climb two kilometers out.
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- Aniołkowski holds his Felt AR aloft.
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- Signing autographs after the finish.
“Today, the final kilometers were tough. At 2 km to go, we had a climb where many riders wanted to attack and this made the pace very high,” he explained. “From the descent, we gained a lot of speed, and my teammates left me in the perfect position to fight for the win.”
Aniołkowski ends a successful week in Greece in style with two stage victories under his belt having never finished outside the top 10 in the five-day race, and securing third on the GC and second in the points classification.
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- Stephen Bassett was part of an early move.
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- The squad in Greece.
The rest of the squad also played their part to ensure that Human Powered Health finished second in the team classification.
After closing the weekend out at the spectacular Tro-Bro Léon, the men’s team well and truly enters stage race season at the Tour de Hongrie from May 10 to 14, with Aniołkowski next racing at the Four Days of Dunkirk in mid-May.
“Now it’s time to prepare the best way I can for the race in Dunkirk, France, and get a win there,” he ended.
International Tour of Hellas stage 4 result
1 ANIOŁKOWSKI Stanisław – Human Powered Health 2:56:20
2 LEITÃO Iúri – Caja Rural – Seguros RGA ”
3 EISENBARTH Pirmin – Bike Aid ”
4 BALLABIO Giacomo – Global 6 Cycling ”
5 ZAMBELLI Samuele – Team Corratec – Selle Italia ”
6 DUPONT Timothy – Tartello – Isorex ”
7 REGUIGUI Youcef – Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team ”
8 TOWNSEND Rory – Bolton Equities Black Spoke ”
9 VANDEPITTE Nathan – Bingoal WB ”
10 STITES Tyler – United States ”
International Tour of Hellas final general classification
1 LEITÃO Iúri – Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 15:04:58
2 GATE Aaron – Bolton Equities Black Spoke 0:06
3 ANIOŁKOWSKI Stanisław – Human Powered Health 0:09
4 TOWNSEND Rory – Bolton Equities Black Spoke 0:12
5 OTRUBA Jakub – TT Investments 0:19
International Tour of Hellas final points classification
1 LEITÃO Iúri – Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 15:04:58 9 points
2 ANIOŁKOWSKI Stanisław – Human Powered Health 6
3 DUPONT Timothy – Tartello – Isorex 5
4 JAKOUBEK Tomáš – ATT Investments 5
5 YEMANE Dawit – Bike Aid 5
International Tour of Hellas final team classification
1 Bolton Equities Black Spoke 45:15:38
2 Human Powered Health 0:45
3 ATT Investments 0:46
4 Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 1:00
5 Bingoal WB 1:20
