Scary near-miss as peloton swerve loose dog during Tour of Poland opening stage - 'Thought better of it!'

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Olav Kooij (Visma–Lease a Bike) took the plaudits after winning Stage 1 of the Tour of Poland, but all eyes were on a four-legged intruder earlier in the race. A crash was luckily avoided, but there was a moment of concern for a few riders. "First loose dog of the week and hopefully the last," said Jez Cox on commentary. The Tour of Poland is live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Dog darts into peloton in scary near-miss at Tour of Poland

Video credit: TNT Sports

The peloton at the Tour of Poland were joined by an unexpected companion early in Stage 1.

Riding from Wroclaw to Legni, the peloton was in a comfortable rhythm with just over 128km to go.

But there was a moment of fright as a small dog ran onto the road, narrowly avoiding chaos among the riders.

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"First loose dog of the week and hopefully the last," winced Jez Cox on TNT Sports commentary, as he witnessed the incident.

"Thought better of it, turned around and went back. Good doggy. Excellent behaviour from that black and tan youngster."

The interruption was quickly brushed off by the riders on a long opening stage.

Highlights: Kooij times sprint to perfection to claim Stage 1 victory

Video credit: TNT Sports

Olav Kooij (Visma–Lease a Bike) took the day after a close sprint with Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

There was a crash 1.8km from the finish line as the road narrowed and riders attempted to jostle for position before the bunch sprint.

"It was definitely not easy, but somehow we managed to pull off a victory almost every time we come here, so that's good memories," said Kooij, after his fifth Tour of Poland stage win.

"It was pretty amazing and a really strong job by the team to control all day, and also to bring us in the final like this. We maybe lost each other a bit – the three of us in the final, but we managed to still do an amazing job."

It was Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-AG2R) who won Stage 2 in the hills above Karpacz, taking the yellow jersey after a well-timed attack close to the line.

He finished ahead of Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Victor Langellotti (Ineos Grenadiers), with Lapeira now six seconds in front of Vacek in the general classification.

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