Bart Lemmen Wins Tour de Pologne Stage After Massive Crash

Dutch rider Bart Lemmen, riding for Visma‑Lease a Bike, secured his first professional victory by winning the fourth stage of the 2026 Tour de Pologne in Karpacz. The win also gave him the overall race lead. The stage, originally planned at 176 km from Żagań to Karpacz, was dramatically affected by a massive crash caused by rain‑slickened roads, involving more than twenty riders including João Almeida, Jan Christen, Benoît Cosnefroy, Juan Sebastián Molano, Wilco Kelderman and Stefan Küng. Race officials neutralised the event for about half an hour to allow medical assistance, after which the Borowice climb was removed and the route shortened to roughly 162 km. Lemmen held off Italian rider Christian Scaroni in a tight sprint, finishing in 3 h 54 min 45 s and taking the general‑classification lead.

The incident highlighted safety concerns on wet descents and led to a revised race programme, but Lemmen’s performance marked a career milestone and reshaped the competition’s standings.