September 28, 2014 (Ponferrada, Spain) – The Elite Men’s 254.8km road race is underway and just over the halfway point as the riders have just started the 9th of 14 laps (18.2km/lap) now in sunny conditions with 203 starters. Rui Costa (Por) is the defending champ and Canada has three riders on the start line Christian Meier, Ryan Anderson and Michael Woods. A break of four riders got away at the end of Lap 1 and had a 15min+ lead now down to 9:50 – follow the race updates below or on Twitter.

Kwiatkowski, 24, was protected by his team for the first 200km and attacked just before the final Mirador climb catching the break of four riders and going solo for the next 5km to claim the biggest win of his career and Polands’ first Elite men’s title.

He held off a 6-strong chase group that included top contenders like Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain), Simon Gerrans (Australia), Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) and Tony Gallopin (France). He kissed his jersey before crossing the line and dedicated the win to his team, his girlfriend, his family and Poland.

Results

1. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) 6:29:07
2. Simon Gerrans (Australia) 0:01
3. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain)
4. Matti Breschel (Denmark)
5. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)

DNF Michael Woods
DNF Ryan Anderson
DNF Christian Meier

Full results here.

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