A clean sprint by Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorias) on Thursday in the Tour de Pologne gave Bauhaus his second career win.

While a group crash undoubtedly ruined many sprinters' chances of contending for the win, Bauhaus and his lead-out man, Jonathan Milano, were ahead of the peloton's point where the crash occurred.

Their form was further confirmed in the reduced line battle on stage 5, which saw off racers like Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Nikias Arndt (Team DSM).

"I was feeling really good in the beginning, but unfortunately there was a big crash on the last corner and a lot of racers went down. I was able to avoid it," Bauhaus said after the race.

The pileup occurred at high speed when the road narrowed temporarily and swerved to the right almost simultaneously. The full extent of the injuries sustained by the crashed rider was not yet known and was not included in the first official medical news.

According to information obtained by Cyclingnews from Cofidis management, the only Italian rider to retire on this stage, Simone Consonni, left the race well before the crash due to illness.

From a purely sporting standpoint, the crash left sprinters such as Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mark Cavendish (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl), and Olaf Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) without options.

For Bahrain-Victorius, the victory in Pollogne was his first WorldTour win since Steve Williams won the Tour de Suisse almost two months ago, while Bauhaus' win in Pollogne was his second since his opening stage victory in 2021!

"I've been here since the beginning of the year.

"I like racing here and maybe I'm lucky with the conditions," Bauhaus said. To win you need not only luck but also legs and a great team for the sprint."

"I'm on one of the best teams in the world and we've proved that we can win a lot of races together as a team. Johnny [Jonathan Milan] did a great lead-out in the last 200 meters. Plus, I had the legs to do it, so I'm really happy."

Bauhaus is looking forward to the final stage in Krakow. With Pero Bilbao in second place overall, he noted that Bahrain Victorious has serious options for victory.

"He's a super good time trialist, so I hope he can fight for the yellow jersey," Bauhaus said. Bauhaus said, "The final day is a flat finish, so I expect a group sprint and a great result."