Slovakian Peter Sagan won the fourth stage of the Tour de Poland, taking over at the top of the general classification after the victory in Cieszyn.

The 21-year-old finished three seconds clear of Ireland's Dan Martin and, despite missing out on the top ten in the first and third stages, he now leads the GC from Vacansoleil-DCM pair Marco Marcato and Romain Feillu.

Sagan impressively powered up the final cobbled incline and left his challengers in his wake with a full 500 metres left to race.

“Today I had good legs and the team did great work for me," the man known as "The Terminator" said.

“We had good hopes that a group could finish in a sprint together and it happened.”

Sagan admitted that although he triumphed on the 176.9km stage from Oswicim to Cieszyn he mainly using the race as a warm-up for the Vuelta a Espana which starts in Benidorm later this month.

“I'm not sure about keeping the leader's jersey until the end, because the next stages are pretty hard," he continued.

“I'll try, but if the rhythm is too high, I won't follow. I'm here mostly to prepare the Vuelta."

Thursday will see the riders attempting the longest of the stages so far, the 201.5km route around Zakopane.

Eurosport