The route of the Clasica de San Sebastian is the same that was ridden 2 years ago with the win for Pieter Weening. The most interesting part of the race will be the climbs to Jaizkibel and Arkale. Both will be tackled twice as they feature in the final circuit to the East of San Sebastian. However, Jaizkibel's 2nd climb is 37 kilometers from the finish line, which might not encourage the riders to take risks so far from the finish line.
Euskaltel was not too keen on having a big break and even Hubert Dupont collaborated in bringing back big groups of riders. In the end only 5 formed the break of the day: Jakob Fuglsang (Vacansoleil), Fabio Aru (BMC), Ruben Plaza (Discovery), Christophe Riblon (Cofidis) and Davide Formolo (Astana). At Andoain they had a gap of 7' 30'' but still 118 kilometers to go. The weather was quite good but the wind was quite strong and bothering the riders quite a bit.
The first climb to Jaizkibel was meant to be rather quiet as its top was still 77 kilometers from the finish line. However, Katusha and Euskaltel put in the front riders like Pavel Brutt, Rein Taaramae, Hubert Dupont and Joaquim Rodriguez. That brought the gap of the break down to 4' 30''. The fact that it started to rain during the climb would not help the riders either. A few riders were starting to suffer at the back of the pack.
The 2nd time the riders climbed Arkale they still had 54 kilometers to ride. The gap of the break had dropped to 3 minutes but the riders did not give up and kept pushing hard to make things difficult for the favorites. That would also wear down the helpers of the main riders. Euskaltel was fully committed to chasing and they had almost the whole team at the front. One difficulty for the attackers would be that the wind would blow against the riders in the run to San Sebastian so small groups would have it difficult in the last 10 kilometers.
Euskaltel led the chase at the 2nd climb to Jaizkibel but too many riders held on in the main group and gap of the break was still 1' 20'' at the top of the climb, which suggests that the pace was not that hard. Joaquim Rodriguez, Greg van Avermaet, Hubert Dupont and Danilo di Luca were leading the bunch. Quickstep riders were also very close to the front, like Frank Schleck and Lloyd Mondory while Davide Rebellin was also showing his face close to the riders working.
The favorites waited for the climb to Arkale to play for the win but Johan Vansummeren attacked in the flat and reached the bottom of the climb slightly ahead. He was catching riders from the break at that point. Cadel Evans had tried before but could not hold on at the front. As soon as the road started to climb Chris Froome tried to follow the attack from Vansummeren but Greg van Avermaet was setting a pace that was clearly more demanding than before, probably anticipating an attack from David Lopez.
It had to be Simone Ponzi who attacked to trigger the movement by David Lopez. The Basque was the first at the top of Arkale but the group was 7 riders strong, including Mikel Nieve and Emanuele Sella. It was not good news for the other riders in the group as they would be taking Simone Ponzi to the finish line and the Italian was much faster than the others. Among those that missed the move and were trying to connect were Philippe Gilbert, 30 seconds behind, Cadel Evans and Jelle Vanendert.
10 riders got together in the descent but they had no understanding among them at all and they were eventually chased back by a big group of riders led by HTC and Lotto. With 8 kilometers to go the group was way bigger than anticipated. The strong headwind and the fact that no one wanted to take Simone Ponzi to a win meant that many quick riders were now at the front group and would have a chance if no attacks were successful in the approach to the finish line.
There were plenty of attacks and counterattacks in the last kilometers. Bjorn Leukemans and Simone Ponzi managed to open a small gap but were reeled back in. Another of the strongest attacks came from Peter Stetina and was followed by Chris Froome in the small hill that marks the entry to San Sebastian. Johan Vansummeren and Bauke Mollema are the riders leading the chase for the group but even with a small gap it could be enough with only 3 kilometers remaining.
Peter Stetina and Chris Froome were eventually caught back and it was the turn for Lloyd Mondory to attack. The French had never featured at the front of the race since before Arkale and was saving forces for this final attack. He opened a gap of 10 seconds over the chasing group with 700 meters to go. It looked like it was enough as he was a very fast sprinter. In the chasing group Simone Ponzi was leading the final sprint ahead of Peter Stetina, David Lopez and Andrew Talansky.
Lloyd Mondory wins in San Sebastian! The French attacked very hard when no one expected it and the chasers were unable to bring him back before the finish line. Mondory had been saving energies for a final attack and was successful. That is his 7th win this season in what is probably the most surprising performance of 2016. The sprint for the 2nd place was won by David Lopez, who will be cursing his luck. However, as his performances are dominant in many terrains he will have it more difficult to surprise others.
The final place of the podium went to Davide Rebellin, who is quite fast in this type of sprints unlike Lopez, which was quite a surprise. The top 5 was completed by Simone Ponzi and Andrew Talansky. In the end the front group had 55 riders, many more than what is the norm in a race as hard as this. The wind conditions and the attitude of the riders probably contributed to the outcome, which led to a very surprising win by Mondory.
The last race before the Vuelta a España is the Tour de Pologne so many riders that are preparing the Grand Tour have come to Poland to finalize their preparation. This is the 5th edition of the race, which has kept a similar route in all of the years it has been raced, mainly focussed on the Southern part of the country. The stages in Zakopane and Bukowina Tatrzanska are always quite hilly and contribute to deciding the outcome of the race. The route this year will be the same raced back in 2014.
The riders that have typically done well in the race are not Grand Tour riders but classics riders, given that there are no time trials or mountains this seems quite logical. However, David Lopez and Jelle Vanendert are targeting the race this season and that could change, although they are not purely Grand Tour riders. The defending champion is Simon Gerrans, while Philippe Gilbert and Rinaldo Nocentini joined him in the podium 2 years ago. There has been no rider that has been in the podium twice and Gilbert looks as the most likely rider to achieve it this season.
Favorites:
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): If anyone is a favorite wherever there are hills and mountains that is David Lopez. The Spaniard has had a fantastic 2016 so far and comes from getting a 2nd place in the Clasica de San Sebastian. However, he stated that he is still getting in shape for the coming Vuelta a España so his hopes are not that great for the race in Poland. Nevertheless, he might be playing down his chances not to have too much pressure on him.
- Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Soudal): The other character in the early part of the season had been Jelle Vanendert. However, he chose to skip the Giro d'Italia and came back for a 2nd position in the Tour de Suisse. The Belgian has also set his sights in the Vuelta after skipping the Giro in favor of his teammate Robert Kiserlovski. The fact that there is no time trial in the route of the Polish race clearly favors his chances.
- Joost van Leijen (Team Giant - Alpecin): Giant has not had a very good season as a rookie team in the World Tour but the highlight of their season was without any doubts the win by Joost van Leijen in the Amstel Gold Race. Even if the Dutch did not get any other result in the season it would still be a major achievement for him. The route of the Tour de Pologne fits him very well and he might well have a shot at the overall win even though the support he will get will not be ideal.
- Frank Schleck (Etixx - Quickstep): It cannot be said that Schleck's season has been terrible but the Luxembourgish has been completely overshadowed by his teammates Marco Pinotti and Lloyd Mondory. However, he skipped the Giro d'Italia to focus on the races later in the season, especially the Vuelta. Therefore, his form should start to pick up considerably and he should already be involved in the fight for the race in Poland.
Other riders with a chance could be Philippe Gilbert (Trek Factory Racing), Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Soudal), Cadel Evans (Movistar Team), Dries Devenyns (BMC Racing Team), Davide Rebellin (Astana Pro Team) and Robert Gesink (Ag2r - La Mondiale).
There are many good sprinters in Poland, including Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal), Marcel Kittel (Astana Pro Team), Lloyd Mondory (Etixx - Quickstep), Alexander Kristoff (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) and Ben Swift (Vacansoleil - DMC).
The first stage of the Tour de Pologne is one of the most interesting in terms of racing. The route is completely contained in a circuit that has the climb to the ski resort of Karpacz, where the stage begins. The riders will have to tackle 4.5 laps to the 40 kilometers circuit while the finish line is after the downhill in Jelenia Gora. It will be interesting to see what the favorites do in the race as the last climb to Karpacz is 21 kilometers to the finish line and it might be too much for a serious attack.
The break of the day had 7 riders, including Bernhard Eisel (LottoNL), Eros Capecchi (BMC), Thomas de Gendt (Tinkoff), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and Christophe Riblon (Cofidis). However, Bart de Clercq was trying to bridge the gap and at the 2nd climb to Karpacz was 1 minute behind. The only intermediate sprint of the day was placed halfway through the climb, in the actual town. Bernhard Eisel was fastest and took the bonus seconds. The break had built a gap of 5 minutes but they still had a long way to go. Meanwhile, Euskaltel and Giant were controlling the pace in the peloton but not making the stage hard.
Francesco Gavazzi jumped from the peloton at the second climb to Karpacz and was still trying to join the break at the top of the third climb. He crossed the KoM sprint with 58 kilometers to go 2' 45'' behind. The Italian would have a very tough job of chasing them when the pace should pick up in the last lap. On the other hand, Bart de Clercq did manage to join the front group, making it 8 riders at the front of the race. Meanwhile, the peloton woke up to chase Gavazzi as the Italian would be too dangerous in the GC if he got time today. Astana and Trek reduced the gap to the break to 4' 20''.
The riders soon crossed the finish line in Jelenia Gora and came back to Karpacz for the last climb of the day. Halfway through the climb it was Eros Capecchi who was making the race a bit harder with Nairo Quintana right behind. The BMC rider needed to drop a few of the other riders, especially Bernhard Eisel if he wanted to have a chance to win the stage. They had started to think that they might make it to the finish line as with 26 kilometers to go Francesco Gavazzi was about to be reeled back in by the bunch when they are 2' 30'' behind. Even though there were riders like Tejay van Garderen, Cameron Meyer and Greg van Avermaet chasing they were not cutting the gap that much.
The peloton crossed the top of the hill with Trek at the front, led by Cameron Meyer. However, it had been the local Rafal Majka for Lotto who had led the bunch all through the last climb. Nevertheless, the gap to the break was still at 2' 30'' with 21 kilometers to go. With the roads all favorable towards the finish line it seemed like a huge time to cut by the chasers. The feeling was that no team wanted to waste a lot of energies in bringing back a break that did not really have any dangerous riders in the GC. Bernhard Eisel would finish the day as leader in the KoM classification.
The only difficulty in the second part of the circuit was only a tiny hill with 12 kilometers to go. That was the point that Bjorn Leukemans used to attack. Most of the favorites seemed happy to sit the stage in the bunch but the attack triggered Philippe Gilbert to follow. That would mean that Trek would no longer do any chasing so there had to be a reaction from others. In the front group it was Nairo Quintana who attacked and had a small gap of 15 seconds over the rest of the group. Leukemans was 1' 40'' behind. Meanwhile, in the descent there had been a crash in the peloton involving Johan Vansummeren, the former winner of the race, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Tom Slagter.
Nairo Quintana crossed the 5 kilometers to go mark with a gap of 25 seconds over the rest of the early break. The chasers were maintaining the gap to the Colombian at a manageable distance, letting him waste energy. A group of 6 of the favorites had formed behind them but too far back to be a threat. They were Bjorn Leukemans, Philippe Gilbert, Joost van Leijen, David Lopez, Simone Ponzi and Frank Schleck. They had a gap of 35 seconds over the main group, which was led by riders from Lotto and Movistar. Lotto is clearly riding for Jelle Vanendert in this race.
Bart de Clercq started the final sprint from way too far, 2 kilometers. Nairo Quintana still had 25 seconds and they needed to push hard to bring him back. The final kilometer is slightly downhill but the previous one had a gradient close to 3% where gaps could be cut. The Colombian was pushing hard trying to get the first win in the history of Orica - Greenedge. At the back, Bjorn Leukemans' group was reeled back in after another round of attacks in the main bunch and they gave up the chase for the break, letting the gap grow a bit again.
Nairo Quintana could not hold on to the lead he had and was caught by the rest of the early break within the last kilometer of the stage. Bernhard Eisel was on paper the quickest rider in a sprint among those in the group and he had already taken a good margin on the rest with 700 meters to go. Eros Capecchi and Christophe Riblon were trying to close the gap but they were struggling, while Alexandre Vinokourov seemed to be already too far back.
Bernhard Eisel wins in Jelenia Gora! The Austrian had been a long time without a win, since the stage finishing in Vallorbe Juraparc in the 2012 Tour de Suisse. Eisel has had quite a bad season along with the rest of the LottoNL but he already got a podium in the E3 Harelbeke in the spring. He easily beat the rest of the riders in the break. Eros Capecchi took the 2nd place ahead of Christophe Riblon, while Alexandre Vinokourov and Lars Peter Nordhaug completed the top 5.
The peloton crossed the finish line 1' 16'' behind led by Kenny van Hummel and Alexander Kristoff. The gap is not too big but it could well mean that Eisel can hold on to the lead of the race until the stage finishing in Bukowina Tatrzanska. He is not a bad rider at all and could well try to hold on for a good finishing position in the Polish race. On the other hand, it was surprising that most of the favorites happily sat in the peloton in one of the few stages where they could make a difference.
A very long route awaits the riders for the 2nd stage of the Tour de Pologne. 240 kilometers separate the start and finish lines in Walbryzch and Opole, which will surely hurt at the end of the day. Other than the very long stage there are no other difficulties today so a mass sprint is very likely to occur in the streets of Opole. Many top sprinters have come to Poland as they have a few opportunities to fight for stage wins so we should witness a good fight for the stage.
Only 4 riders were allowed to form the break of the day: Enrico Gasparotto (Quickstep), Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg (Cofidis), Marco Marcato (BMC) and Stefan Schumacher (HTC). They managed to do it in the very first attempt, only a few kilometers in the race. There were 3 intermediate sprints today and they got to the first, in Paczkow with a 6 minutes gap over the main bunch. However, with 153 kilometers remaining the peloton was not too worried. Gasparotto was the only rider interested in the points in the break. In the peloton Mark Renshaw was quickest ahead of Andre Greipel and Alexander Kristoff.
The third sprint was placed in Krapkowice, 60 kilometers from the finish line in Opole. Andre Greipel easily beat Alexander Kristoff and Mark Renshaw in the sprint of the group. The German is showing his newly acquired National Champion jersey in the Polish race. The gap of the break was still 3' 20'' but perfectly manageable for the peloton. A lot of teams were interested in getting to the finish with a mass sprint, including Lotto, Euskaltel, Giant and Astana.
Stefan Schumacher tried to make the break survive a bit longer but with 10 kilometers to go the peloton was only 20 seconds behind and was pushing hard led by IAM and Astana. Lotto was also letting Tony Martin do some of the chasing every now and then, the German causing the group to stretch out considerably. The main sprinters were already making progress towards the front of the pack. The final kilometers are not really complicated as the final straight is quite long.
IAM and Astana were the teams that formed a sprint train today. The Swiss team would have Anthony Roux to work for Mark Cavendish while Mark Renshaw was right behind the British. On the other side of the road Astana had Davide Rebellin, the leader for the team in the GC, to lead Marcel Kittel out. Andre Greipel was right behind his fellow German. It was surprising that Lotto and Euskaltel had not formed sprint trains as they have good lead out men. Among other sprinters that were well positioned we could find Elia Viviani, Matthew Goss and Alexander Kristoff.
Neither Anthony Roux nor Davide Rebellin are great lead out men but they were still leading the way as they approached the last kilometer. This could be something that the other sprinters might take advantage of as they had no trouble following them. However, there were already a few sprinters that were not very well positioned like Simone Ponzi, Lloyd Mondory and Tyler Farrar. It is particularly surprising from Mondory, who should be strong in such a long race.
Mark Cavendish came out of the tow of Anthony Roux and was still leading the sprint with 700 meters to go. However, it was all very close as Marcel Kittel was almost on par with him and Mark Renshaw and Andre Greipel were also closing down on the Brit from behind. Not even Matthew Goss or Elia Viviani could be discarded from the win judging by the state of the race at that moment. Also, Alexander Kristoff had lost a bit of ground that he was starting to make up.
Mark Cavendish wins in Opole! The British seemed to be fading at some point but held off the attacks from the other sprinters to take his 1st win of the season. It was a very close affair with 4 or 5 riders chasing the win in the last few meters of the stage. Marcel Kittel was a close second ahead of Mark Renshaw. Alexander Kristoff made a lot of progress in the final meters but his poor positioning before the sprint meant that he could not get anything better. Elia Viviani completed the top 5.
Today's stage will not be one to remember. The peloton had the race completely controlled at all times and the mass sprint was never in danger. We will have a few more battles in the sprints during the week. Tomorrow will most likely be another sprint but at least there are a couple of hills before the finish that could spice things up a little. The fight for the GC should be limited to the stages in Zakopane and Butrowina Tratrzanska.
The third stage is another one where the sprinters have a good chance of coming up on top. It will be another long day in the saddle as the riders will have to face 200 kilometers and it will not be as flat as yesterday. There will be a couple of climbs to Kubalonka but the top of the second is 55 kilometers from the finish line. Any attackers will have to have a big gap at the top and work together in order to have a chance of taking the stage win.
There was no break at the front when the peloton reached the intermediate sprint. There had been a long chase for more than 50 kilometers between a group of 8 riders and the teams of the sprinters and they had been reeled back in shortly before. The sprint was placed in Skoczow, 100 kilometers from the finish line in Cieszyn. Marcel Kittel clearly beat Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel at the sprint for the full 12 points on offer. Any other attackers might wait for the hills to make a move.
Julien Simon was the only rider that was willing to attack in the hills. That was strange, given that the teams of the sprinters did a lot of work in the early part of the stage and other riders could have taken advantage. However, at the 2nd climb to Kubalonka the FDJ rider was the only one at front with a gap of 2' 40'' over the bunch. The peloton still had 55 kilometers to chase and was not in a rush to bring him back. LottoNL was the team keeping the pace as Simon was only 1 minute behind in the GC.
It was quite easy for the bunch to bring Julien Simon back. The final circuit in Cieszyn was quite tricky as there was a small hill with 3 kilometers to go and the finish straight was also uphill. Michal Kwiatkowski and Jerome Coppel were leading the bunch as they crossed the finish line for the last 9 kilometers lap. IAM was working hard even though it was not the best finish for Mark Cavendish. There was a crash a few kilometers before involving riders like Tyler Farrar, Cameron Meyer and Denis Menchov.
IAM was the only team that formed a sprint today. They were probably full of confidence after the win by Mark Cavendish yesterday. It would be Anthony Roux again leading out Cavendish and Andre Greipel was already attached to the wheel of the British with 3 kilometers to go. The peloton was again very stretched out and among those sprinters well positioned were Alexander Kristoff, Giacomo Nizzolo and Simone Ponzi. On the other hand, Marcel Kittel and Lloyd Mondory were nowhere to be seen close to the front. It seems like the French is not interested in being involved in the sprints this early in the race.
Mark Cavendish started his final sprint way too early. The British was already at the front of the pack with more than 1 kilometer to go and it did not seem like the best idea considering that the final 500 meters were considerably uphill. Andre Greipel was still right behind him and was enjoying a good lead out. Alexander Kristoff, Giacomo Nizzolo and Simone Ponzi were also still very much in the mix but the rest of the sprinters seemed way too far behind. Seeing the shape of the peloton some gaps might open at the finish line. We'll see whether any favorites could be caught behind.
Andre Greipel had already taken the lead of the sprint with 500 meters to go but that was where the road started to pick up and that is not well suited at all to the German. Mark Cavendish was starting to fade but right behind him was Lloyd Mondory, who was doing a lot of progress in the sprint and was threatening to fight for the stage. Giacomo Nizzolo and Alexander Kristoff were almost on par with the Quickstep rider while Simone Ponzi had also faded a little.
Andre Greipel wins in Cieszyn! That is the first win for the German wearing his National Champion jersey. It did not take long for him at all to win again and this is his 4th win of the season. Greipel clearly won the stage over the other sprinters and he was not bothered about the uphill in the last meters. The second place in the stage went to Lloyd Mondory ahead of Simon Ponzi, proving that those sprinters that handled the hills better had a bit of an edge today.
The top 5 was completed by Alexander Kristoff and Jose Joaquin Rojas. The stage was quiet but though in the last part and a gap opened in the peloton behind Michal Kwiatkowski, the 60th rider to cross the line. Luckily none of the favorites for the final win of the Tour de Pologne were caught behind. Tomorrow's stage will be much shorter and easier as the favorites rest for the crucial 2 stages that will most likely decide the outcome of the race.
Today's stage is also meant to be for the sprinters but they will have an easier time than in the very long previous stages as the route is only 124 kilometers long. The profile is completely flat and should pose no difficulties for any of the riders and will finish with a circuit in Katowice. The circuit might well be the most dangerous part for many riders as crashes are in general more frequent in this kind of city circuits than in open roads.
The break took again a lot of time to form today and by the time the riders got to the first intermediate sprint there was no one ahead of the pack. The sprint was 94 kilometers from the finish line, in Dabrowa Gornicza. Marcel Kittel comfortably won the sprint against Mark Cavendish but the rest of the sprinters could not be bothered to fight for the points even though many were on offer. The teams of the sprinters were completely controlling the pace and they let no group go ahead so far.
A group of 5 riders finally opened a gap on the peloton and by the time they got to the second intermediate sprint in Siemanowice Slakie they had 3 minutes on the bunch. They were Luke Durbridge (Cofidis), Taylor Phinney (Discovery), Stefan Schumacher (HTC), Gregory Rast (Orica) and Alexander Serebryakov (Katusha). In the sprint of the peloton a few more sprinters fought for the points and Andre Greipel won ahead of Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish. The stage seemed completely controlled by the bunch.
It looked like the bunch would easily reel back the break at the end of the stage but with 7 kilometers to go they still had ground to make. Luke Durbridge had attacked from the break and had 20 seconds on his fellow riders from the break and 1' 35'' on the peloton. At that point the break seemed to have a gap big enough for them to fight for the stage. Lotto, Astana and IAM were chasing but seemed to be paying for their efforts in previous stages, while LottoNL was not worried as no one was close in the GC.
IAM built their sprint train but with a gap of 55 seconds over the bunch for the break with 3 kilometers remaining it seemed really difficult that the riders of the peloton had a chance for the stage. Nevertheless, they still had points to fight for in the points' jersey. Anthony Roux would lead Mark Cavendish with Andre Greipel right behind. Meanwhile, Luke Durbridge was caught again by the rest of the riders in the break and the 5 seemed ready to fight it in the sprint or with a late attack.
Gregory Rast was the first to attack and with 2 kilometers to go he opened a small gap over the rest of the break. Taylor Phinney and Stefan Schumacher reacted but the Swiss is a very solid rider and it would be difficult for them to close on him. Rast is really strong in the flat and not by chance he was 5th in Roubaix. They had 40 seconds on the bunch, where Jempy Drucker was flying at the front of the pack to try to get them closer. However, it was way too late for the sprinters.
Gregory Rast was fading a little as the riders got to 700 meters of the finish line but he was still keeping Stefan Schumacher and Taylor Phinney behind. It would be difficult for them to get past the Swiss as he is a very tough rider to fight with. Alexander Serebryakov seemed a bit too far behind to fight for the stage. Meanwhile, Luke Durbridge had completely dropped from the break and was about to be caught by the bunch, which was led still by Anthony Roux ahead of Mark Cavendish.
Gregory Rast wins in Katowice! It was a great stage for the Swiss, who got his first win of the season and the first win in the history of the Orica - Greenedge team. This will be a day that will be marked with fire in the minds of all the members of the Australian team. Stefan Schumacher took the 2nd place ahead of Taylor Phinney and Alexander Serebryakov. It was a day that was meant to finish with a mass sprint and the riders of the break have to be congratulated for putting such a great performance.
There was no gap in the end between the break and the peloton. Andre Greipel was quickest in the bunch sprint ahead of Mark Cavendish and Kenny van Hummel. The teams of the sprinters were too generous in their efforts in the past couple of days and early in the stage today and could not control the gap any longer. It is always nice to see a break win as it does not happen too often. The sprinters will have to wait now for a couple of races as the favorites have to fight for the GC in the next couple of stages.
