The first stage race after the Tour de France is the Tour de Pologne, which is raced during the first week of August every year. This is a race that typically takes place towards the southern part of Poland, as it is the only region in the country where hills and mountains can be found. Nevertheless, as in the last few years, it is a race that will be decided in the hills. There are no mountains and no time trial so the outcome of the race is quite unpredictable. The most important stages will most likely be the ones finishing in Zakopane and Butrowina Tatrzanska. The bad news for the race is that only 15 teams signed up for the race, 11 of them World Tour. The calendar is quite busy in August and the Polish race is not the most popular among the teams.
As we said, the likely winner is quite unpredictable given the route and the mixture of riders coming to the race. Most of the favorites seem either to be preparing for the upcoming Vuelta a España or have the races in August as a target. However, the outcome of the race last year was determined by a break that made it to the finish line in the first stage. Last year's winner, Bernhard Eisel, will not be at the start of the race given that LottoNL - Jumbo decided to skip the race, the same as the second placed rider, Eros Capecchi, and the third in the podium, Lars Peter Nordhaug. Nevertheless, there are enough quality riders to see a good race.
Favorites:
- Jelle Vanendert (Lotto - Soudal): This is the last race for Jelle Vanendert before the Vuelta a España, so he should be picking up his form although there are still 3 weeks to the start of the Spanish race. The Tour de Pologne is a race that very much suits him as there are no time trials and the important stages are all in the hills. Therefore, he should be among the top riders in every stage. The only doubts regarding the Lotto team are that they also have Bjorn Leukemans in the startlist and he could be the favored rider for the GC.
- Davide Rebellin (Astana Pro Team): Rebellin's season has been quite solid so far, especially with the stage he won in the Tour Down Under and the podium in La Fleche Wallonne. However, he does not have that many target races in the second part of the season and the Tour de Pologne is clearly the race that suits him best. Therefore, Astana will be backing him, especially as Marcel Kittel decided to skip the race as he will barely race between the Tour and Vuelta. As with Vanendert, Rebellin will be more than happy by the lack of time trials.
- David Lopez (Euskaltel - Euskadi): David Lopez will get to Poland full of morale after getting the win in the Clasica de San Sebastian. This added to the Tour de Suisse before the break he took in early July should mean that the Spaniard is stuck in during this part of the season. This will also be the last preparation race for Lopez before the Vuelta so the Tour of Poland could well allow us to measure how some of the favorites for the Vuelta are riding so far. He has never been in the podium in this race but it would not be surprising to see him in 2017.
- Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto - Soudal): Lotto has 2 cards to play in the Tour de Pologne and it is difficult to say who will be the rider going for the GC result. Leukemans has not raced since the National Championships and he was already letting his peak of form fade since the Ardennes classics. His season was very good in the cobbles as he won the Ronde van Vlaanderen but his Ardennes were not that good. It seems that he was tired after being competitive since the Paris - Nice. Therefore, he might be focusing more on the Eneco Tour next week than in this Tour de Pologne.
Other riders with a shot at the podium are Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil - DMC), Lloyd Mondory and Frank Schleck (Etixx - Quickstep), Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Simon Clarke (HTC - Highroad) and Samuel Sanchez (Movistar Team).
Among the sprinters, we can find in Poland: Andre Greipel (Lotto - Soudal), Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff), Francisco Ventoso (Movistar Team), Mark Cavendish and Yauheni Hutarovich (IAM Cycling) and Elia Viviani (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
The first stage of the Tour de Pologne runs, as many stages in the Tour, very close to the Czech border. The route is completely done in a circuit between the ski resort of Karpacz and the neighbouring town of Jelenia Gora. There will be 4 climbs to the ski resort, so the stage is relatively tough with an accumulated climbing above 2,500 meters. This should be enough difficulty to break the peloton. In 2016 this was the key stage of the race as the early break made it to the finish line with a gap big enough for the riders to go on and cope the podium in the GC.
The intermediate sprint was placed in Karpacz Um, halfway through the second climb of the day. A group of 7 riders was ahead, including riders like Diego Ulissi (Lampre), Yoann Offredo (IAM), Ion Izagirre (FDJ), Javier Moreno (Astana) and Martin Elmiger (Orica). With 106 kilometers to go they had a gap of 5' 45'' over the peloton but the break did not look that threatening. Ulissi was the first at the sprint and took the bonus seconds. Meanwhile, the peloton was still very quiet and no team was willing to set the pace to control the race.
Vacansoleil started to work like crazy at the front of the group on the approach to the 3rd climb to Karpacz Orlineh. They had riders like Rigoberto Uran (Vacansoleil) and Robbie McEwen (Vacansoleil) at the front. As they hit the climb, their teammate Wout Poels (Vacansoleil) attacked and he was immediately joined by Alejandro Valverde (Cofidis). They had 61 kilometers to go from the top of the climb and the two riders were 2 minutes behind the early break. The pace slowed completely in the bunch once Vacansoleil stopped chasing but the gap to the break was only 3 minutes. Meanwhile, Javier Moreno was the provisional leader of the KoM classification.
Wout Poels and Alejandro Valverde bridged the gap to the front group as they started the last lap of the circuit. However, it meant that many riders in the break were unwilling to do much work at the front as it would benefit Poels, which was in paper the strongest rider in the break. The gap to the peloton was 2' 40'' as they started the last climb of the day. Lotto was setting a pace for Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) and Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) but not too high yet. On the other hand, Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) had punctured one of his wheels and was trying to make his way back to the main group aided by a couple of teammates.
Lotto was still leading the group at the top of the last climb with riders like Rafal Majka (Lotto), Rob Ruijgh (Lotto) and Chris Sutton (Lotto). There had been no attacks although it was expected that some of the favorites would move as there were only 21 kilometers to the finish line. Therefore, the gap of 3 minutes that the break still held could be enough for them to get to the finish line in Jelenia Gora as most of the route remaining was downhill. It was good news for Lloyd Mondory, who could get back to the main group. Meanwhile, Thomas Voeckler (Dimension Data) was the only rider in the break to lose contact in the climb.
There was a small hill with 13 kilometers to go that Frank Schleck (Etixx) chose as his attacking spot. He was quickly joined by Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) but the group had barely reduced the gap to the early break and the riders ahead were already thinking of battling for the stage win. Lotto was still leading the group but the behaviour of their leaders, Jelle Vanendert and Bjorn Leukemans, was quite disappointing. The strong wind was not much of a valid reason not to try an attack. At the front of the race, Javi Moreno had tried to open a gap but was unsuccessful and it was a group of 8 that was still ahead.
A group of riders joined the attackers to bring the total to 7 in the chase of the early break. Among those that joined we could find Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery), Bjorn Leukemans and Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil). They were chasing hard and the fact that the riders ahead were waiting for the final sprint meant that the gap had come down to 1' 30'' with 5 kilometers to go. Martin Elmiger was leading the group but the pace was not too hard. Another group of 5 riders, including Jelle Vanendert and David Lopez (Euskaltel) was right behind and close to joining.
The riders in the early break got to the last kilometer with enough time to battle for the stage but the gaps, if any, would be minimal with the chasers. Diego Ulissi soon took the lead in the sprint with Wout Poels and Alejandro Valverde. Those were the riders that had joined the break the latest but also the best in the break. Others like Martin Elmiger, Nelson Oliveira (Tinkoff) and Ion Izagirre were chasing but did not seem to have the legs to challenge for the win. Javi Moreno had wasted too much energy in his late attack and was losing contact with the group.
Diego Ulissi wins in Jelenia Gora! The Italian held Wout Poels and bagged his first win of the season, the first since he won in Vittorio Veneto in last year's Giro d'Italia. Lampre is having a relatively successful year after being a Pro Continental team last season and this is their 4th win in 2017. The second place went to Wout Poels and Vacansoleil almost completed their bold move to put him in the break halfway through the stage. His companion in that adventure, Alejandro Valverde, was third in the stage. The top 5 was completed by Martin Elmiger and Nelson Oliveira.
In the end the group of the favorites got so close that no time differences were awarded among the first 19 riders in the stage. This included all of the favorites except for Lloyd Mondory and Samuel Sanchez (Movistar). They both were in the main group almost 5 minutes behind and their chances in the GC were essentially over. All the riders that did not make it into the group of the favorites took it easy during the last kilometers and these kind of gaps will be very difficult to overcome in the remaining days. There should be 3 stages for the sprinters coming up, so the GC should not change that much until the hilly stages towards the end of the race.
The second stage is the longest of the Tour de Pologne by some distance. The route between Walbrzych and Opole will be 237 kilometers long, including a 20 kilometers loop around Opole at the end of the stage. Nevertheless, the race has no significant difficulties and is completely flat in the second part of the stage. Therefore, we expect the sprinters to battle for the win as it will be hard for the break to stay at the front. Their only hope might come from the reduced size of the peloton in the Tour de Pologne, with only 15 teams in the race.
The stage was not going to be easy for the early break and there was not much of a battle to be part of it. A group of 4 riders was established at the first intermediate sprint, in Paczkow. The riders forming the break were Rinaldo Nocentini (Euskaltel), Sergey Chernetskiy (Vacansoleil), Romain Feillu (FDJ) and Andrea Guardini (Astana). With 153 kilometers to the finish line they had a gap of 5' 45'' but their chances of a win were slim at best. The peloton was taking things easy although Etixx had already started to set a pace not to let the gap grow too much.
The only categorised climb of the day, the Chrzaszczye, could barely be considered a climb, given that its gradient was barely 3% and it was no longer than 1 kilometer. Nevertheless, it was considered a 3rd category climb. The peloton was chasing hard and riders like Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto), Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff) and Denis Menchov (Tinkoff) were leading the chase. Etixx was also helping the chase and considering the gap was only 2' 40'' at that stage it looked controlled. On the 3 intermediate sprints of the day, Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) had grabbed plenty of points.
Romain Feillu (FDJ) attacked with 9 kilometers to go but it seemed a fruitless attack as the peloton was only 20 seconds behind and completely organized ahead of the final sprint. There were no doubts they would be chased down with riders like Thomas de Gendt (Tinkoff), Maxime Monfort (Etixx) and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lotto) leading the group. The sprinters had started to make progress towards the front of the group but towards the back it was really stretched. It looked like many riders were already feeling the tired legs after 230 kilometers of racing.
Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) took the front of the peloton and his pace was so high that other trains could not really be formed. The Belgian is a luxury for Andre Greipel (Lotto), who would still have Chris Sutton (Lotto) to work for him as lead out man. Two IAM riders were right behind: Mark Cavendish (IAM) and Tony Gallopin (IAM). It was surprising to see them in reverse order but it was wise for Cavendish to take Greipel's wheel. Meanwhile, Lloyd Mondory had been left completely out of position at around the 20th place in the group. He did not have much time to recover positions.
Chris Sutton led Andre Greipel but the German started this own sprint way too early. As he was getting close to the last kilometer kite only Mark Cavendish could follow his wheel but he was getting a very good tow. Meanwhile, Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) was struggling to close the gap and he was dragging Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) and Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) behind. Among those completely out of position, the best sprinters were Stefan van Dijk (Vacansoleil) and Lloyd Mondory. It looks like the French was too focused on the intermediate sprints today and forgot about the important one.
Andre Greipel was still leading the way with 600 meters to go but Mark Cavendish was starting to come out of the tow and gaining on him. Fran Ventoso seemed unable to close the gap with them and the riders behind were also struggling. Tyler Farrar was making a bit of progress next to the fences on the left side while Elia Viviani seemed to be fading. The Italian does not seem to be on top of his game for this Tour de Pologne as he already struggled too soon yesterday. Stefan van Dijk was also trying to advance but he was far behind.
Mark Cavendish wins in Opole! The British managed to get around Andre Greipel and took his first win of the season. It had been exactly a year since he took his last win, also in Opole in the Tour de Pologne. Cavendish is likely to fall in love with this town in the south of Poland as he seems to always win here. Greipel clearly started his final sprint way too early and he paid the price in missing the win. Lotto had done a great job in setting up the final sprint for him but he misjudged completely. He could not add to the 4 wins he already has this season.
The third place in the stage was taken by Tyler Farrar, while the top 5 was completed by Fran Ventoso and Lloyd Mondory. Mondory was quite good in the final sprint but his positioning ahead of the sprint was awful. The final sprint reflected that the stage had put many riders under strain. The 237 kilometers that the riders had to tackle today meant that not many riders joined the final sprint. Tomorrow's stage will be slightly different as there are two climbs halfway through the stage and the final circuit is not completely flat. Therefore, a mass sprint is not granted.
The riders were facing another long day on the saddle at the 3rd stage of the Tour de Pologne. They would be covering slightly above 200 kilometers between Kedzierzyn-Kozle and Cieszyn. Cieszyn is a town lying on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic and the race would actually cross the border during the final circuit in the town. Before that, they would have to climb to Kubalonka twice. The climb is not too long but quite steep, although with the second climb 55 kilometers from the finish line it will be difficult to see any favorite on the move.
Forming the break was again quite straight-forward and the strongest teams did not look too worried about the break. It was formed by 4 riders: Cyril Gautier (FDJ), Manuele Boaro (Astana), Samuel Dumoulin (Orica) and Lars Bak (Cofidis). They got to the sprint in Skoczow with a gap of 5' 30'' over the bunch but with 100 kilometers remaining the peloton was not worried. Lampre, Tinkoff and Lotto were doing most of the job setting the pace but in the intermediate sprint, Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) narrowly beat Andre Greipel (Lotto) to grab most of the points available.
The second climb to Kubalonka was finished with 55 kilometers to go, too far to see any movements for the GC or for the stage. The peloton was nevertheless chasing and the gap had come down to 3' 45'' at the KoM sprint. The peloton was led by riders like Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff), Jonathan Castroviejo (Lampre) and Giovanni Visconti (Etixx) during the climb. It was a tougher pace than in the first climb but still not enough to make many riders suffer, although Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) was really close to the tail of the bunch. The terrain would now be favorable until the start of the circuit in Cieszyn.
The early break riders were still fighting to keep their chances with 11 kilometers to go but the peloton was getting very close and the gap was only 25 seconds. Many riders were collaborating at the front of the group, including Denis Menchov (Tinkoff), Simon Spilak (Tinkoff) and Maxime Monfort (Etixx). The peloton was quite stretched in this part of the stage as the final circuit had a couple of short climbs. These include the last kilometer, which has the last 700 meters averaging around 5% gradient. The pure sprinters would need to work hard.
The Etixx team was much more aware in the last kilometers than yesterday and Tim Wellens (Etixx) was leading Michael van Staeyen (Etixx) and Lloyd Mondory with a bit less than 3 kilometers to go. They were the dominant team preparing the final kilometers but Tinkoff was next to them with Nelson Oliveira (Tinkoff) ready to work for Tyler Farrar. Elia Viviani (Euskaltel) was right behind the American and very close to the front. A bit behind, Lotto were not as ready as they were yesterday and Chris Sutton (Lotto) was trying to bring Andre Greipel closer to the front. Among the other sprinters, we could see Sacha Modolo (Cofidis) and Tony Gallopin (IAM).
Lloyd Mondory was well led by his teammates but started his sprint a bit more than 1 kilometer away from the finish line. It might have been too early considering that the final part of the stage is uphill. Chris Sutton was still leading Andre Greipel and they were both trying to suck Mondory's wheel. Nelson Oliveira was still leading Tyler Farrar but Mark Cavendish (IAM) was gaining a lot of places. It was also surprising that Diego Ulissi (Lampre) joined the sprint being the leader. Other favorites for the GC or uphill finishers may also try to snatch some bonus seconds.
It was only 600 meters to the finish line and Lloyd Mondory already looked like he had a gap big enough at the front of the race. He had started his sprint very early but the fact that it was uphill was helping him as Andre Greipel did not look comfortable. Tony Gallopin and Tyler Farrar were trying to close down the gap but it was decreasing way too slowly. Meanwhile, other riders that would be better in uphill finishes were too far behind as Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) was trying to gain places. Other like Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) or Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil) were also overtaking sprinters.
Lloyd Mondory wins in Cieszyn! The French was clearly the strongest and had no opposition in today's final kilometer. He had a poor sprint yesterday but he made up for it and grabbed his 7th win of the year, which puts him tied at the top of the riders with the most riders in the season. Mondory was followed at the finish line by two sprinters: Andre Greipel and Tyler Farrar. However, most of those behind were riders fighting for the GC. The top 5 was completed by Jelle Vanendert and Bjorn Leukemans. They were clearly trying to snatch bonus seconds.
Many sprinters found the final circuit too hard and riders like Fran Ventoso (Movistar), Mark Cavendish and Elia Viviani could not even get to the top 10 in the stage. The final GC could well be decided by only tiny differences and that is why some riders were so keen to get to the front today. In the end, there were no changes at all in the GC and Mondory grabbed the points' jersey, although only a few points ahead of Andre Greipel. Tomorrow's stage will be another battle in the points' classification as the mass sprint is again the most likely outcome.
The fourth stage in the Tour de Pologne will also be very flat and it almost resembles more a criterium than a proper stage. Bedzin and Katowice are only separated by a few kilometers and there are all kinds of twists and turns before the final circuit in Katowice, which will comprise the last 50 kilometers of the stage. The stage is therefore an obvious candidate for a mass sprint at the finish line and it will be the last chance for the sprinters until the last stage in Warsaw. The short stage should also mean that the GC riders will not have trouble before the important stages close to the Tatras mountains.
There was no break formed before the first intermediate sprint of the day, placed in Dabrowa Gornicza. It was placed close to the start of the stage and the sprinters wanted the points, which meant that an early attempt including Peter Velits (Discovery) did not stay at the front for long. In the sprint, it was Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff) that took the maximum points, ahead of Lloyd Mondory (Etixx) and Andre Greipel (Lotto). Given the length of the stage, there will be almost no time to form a break and it should not be allowed much time at the front.
A break was finally formed by 4 riders who attacked right after the first sprint. The riders were Mikel Landa (Discovery), Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Lampre), Brian Coquard (Dimension Data) and Maxime Vantomme (Vacansoleil). At the second sprint, with 64 kilometers to go, they had a gap of 2' 30'' over the main bunch. It was not the strongest of the breaks but Tinkoff was already committing riders to control the pace at the group. At the sprint in the group Lloyd Mondory was the quickest. Mondory looks very driven to end up winning the points' competition at the Tour de Pologne.
The teams of the sprinters were caught napping in the final circuit in Katowice and with 9 kilometers to go the peloton was still 1' 45'' behind the leaders. Maxime Vantomme and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke had attacked in the front group but their gap was only around 10 seconds over their fellow riders from the early break. Meanwhile, Tinkoff was still leading the peloton with Simon Spilak (Tinkoff) and Mirsamad Pourseyedi (Tinkoff) but they were not getting any help from the other teams like Etixx of Lotto. This was quite strange especially considering that both Lloyd Mondory and Andre Greipel had been quite strong in previous stages.
Mirsamad Pourseyedi was leading Tyler Farrar at the main bunch with Lloyd Mondory right behind with 3 kilometers to go. However, they were most likely going to fight for the 5th position in the peloton. They were still 1' 25'' behind and the domestiques were all close to being wasted. Meanwhile, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke had left Maxime Vantomme behind and his gap was 20 seconds over the rest of the early break. The British was getting closer and closer to a stage win that was completely unexpected. The chasers were collaborating but the gap for the Lampre rider was quite stable.
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was already ttasting the win as he got close to the final kilometer kite. He still held the gap at 20 seconds over his chasers and it was not decreasing at all. It should be more than enough for the Brit even though Mikel Landa was giving his all to try to close the gap. Nevertheless, in the sprint among the chasers the favorite should be Bryan Coquard. The French is not a top rider but is quite quick in a final rush, much more than Landa and Maxime Vantomme. The peloton was still riding hard behind but it was a hopeless chase for the last 5 kilometers or so.
Mikel Landa and Bryan Coquard were sprinting for the second place in the stage as Jonathan Tiernan-Locked looked behind to see that he could start celebrating his win. In principle Coquard should be a quicker finisher than Landa. Maxime Vantomme was right behind but he had apparently used all of his energies in the attempt to go with Tiernan-Locke and was going to have to settle for 4th in the stage. Meanwhile, the peloton was starting their own sprint with Chris Sutton (Lotto) leading the way and Andre Greipel very well positioned. The sprinters would still have to battle for the remaining points.
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke wins in Katowice! This is the first professional win for the Lampre rider, a moment that he will surely remember for years to come. This was a completely unexpected outcome for a very flat stage and Tiernan-Locke perfectly timed his attack and come out stronger than Maxime Vantomme to grab the solo win. The sprint for the 2nd place went to Bryan Coquard, while Mikel Landa was third ahead of Maxime Vantomme. In principle these riders had been considered a rather weak early break but it played on their hands as the peloton underestimated the work they had to do to chase.
The sprint of the peloton was won by Fran Ventoso (Movistar) ahead of Andre Greipel and Paul Martens (HTC). They cut so much time in the final sprint that in the end there were no time differences among the riders at the finish line but many riders will be cursing after this lost chance. The fact that we have had many stages with the same teams trying to control the race surely did not help and they left the task of chasing the Tinkoff, who are not having the best of the seasons so far. Looking forward, the next couple of stages will be key to the final GC classification and the favorites will have to show their faces in them.
The key stages in the Tour de Pologne will be raced today and tomorrow in the Zakopane area, very close to the Slovakian border. Today's stage will start to the north of this area, in Rabka-Zdroj. The first part of the stage will be relatively easy but the circuit around Zakopane is a different matter. The riders will ride a 40 kilometers long circuit twice. It does not have big climbs but there are plenty of small climbs and the categorized climbs to Glodowka and Droga do Olczy. The gaps should not be too big at the finish line but there will surely be a few.
The first climb of the day was the only one placed outside of the final circuit around Zakopane. It was the climb to Wierch Olczanski, placed very close to tomorrow's finish line and 97 kilometers from the finish line today. A group of 5 riders formed the early break: Michal Kwiatkowski (FDJ), Gianni Meersman (Orica), Sergey Chernetskiy (Vacansoleil), Thomas Voeckler (Dimension Data) and Nelson Oliveira (Tinkoff), who was wearing the best young rider jersey. They had already built a gap of 6' 15'' but there was not much interest on chasing by the peloton and we could see teams at the front that do not normally work there, like Cofidis and Movistar.
The riders were already in the final circuit when they tackled the first climb to Glodowka, with 63 kilometers to the finish line. Lampre was working at the front of the race with yesterday's winner Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Lampre), Jonathan Castroviejo (Lampre) and Borut Bozic (Lampre). It was clear that Diego Ulissi (Lampre) was ready to fight to keep the yellow jersey one more day. that work meant that the front group had a gap that had decreased to 3' 35''. In the meantime, Nelson Oliveira was accumulating lots of points in the KoM classification and he was likely to end the day as the leader in the classification.
Shortly after the riders entered the last lap to the circuit around Zakopane the attacks started in the main group. Samuel Sanchez (Movistar) and Vasil Kiryienka (IAM) had caught up to Nelson Oliveira and Thomas Voeckler, who had been dropped from the early break. With 33 kilometers to go they were 1' 30'' behind the leaders. The peloton was 2' 20'' behind, led by Lotto but with not much of a rush given that the attackers were far behind in the GC. The peloton was starting to lose riders and one of the most surprising riders to lose contact was Dries Devenyns (Euskaltel), although he might have done it to stay with Elia Viviani (Euskaltel).
Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) also decided to attack a few kilometers before the second climb to Glodowka. By the time he got to the top of the climb he only had the 3 remaining riders from the break ahead of him as he had reached the other attackers and left them behind. He was 40 seconds behind the leaders. Another attacker in the climb was Wout Poels (Vacansoleil), the 2nd in the GC, who was close to joining Dupont. Robert Kiserlovski (Discovery) had also attacked from the peloton but he was only a few seconds ahead. Nevertheless, the gaps were not too big as the peloton was 1' 35'' behind the leaders as Rafal Majka (Lotto) was setting the pace.
The small flat section after the top of the climb and the start of the descent was difficult to control but a few teams with riders like Vincenzo Nibali (Lampre), Simon Geschke (HTC) and Tim Wellens (Etixx) managed to get the control towards the end of the fast descent. Michal Kwiatkowski had taken over the lead of the race alone, while Sergey Chernetskiy was helping his teammate Wout Poels and Hubert Dupont. They were 20 seconds behind but as they reached the small flat section with 9 kilometers to go the peloton was only 35 seconds behind Kwiatkowski. Around 60 riders survived in the main bunch.
Michal Kwiatkowski held on to the lead of the race at the final climb of the day, Droga do Olczyn. Its top was only 6 kilometers from the finish line and there was a bit of a standstill in the main bunch after they caught Hubert Dupont and Wout Poels. Kwiatkowski had 30 seconds at the top but he was already showing signs of tiredness, whereas the peloton started to pick up the pace as Dupont tried to attack again and he dragged Diego Ulissi with him. The attack of the leader triggered a chain reaction as he would not be allowed to take a bigger advantage.
Johan Vansummeren (HTC) attacked at the top of the climb and if there was a rider that could hold on to the lead in the flat towards the finish line that was the Belgian. He proved to be really strong with that attack, given that he is not the best rider to go over the hills. He had 25 seconds over a group of 13 riders that included the leader and other riders like Jelle Vanendert (Lotto), Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto) and David Lopez. Meanwhile, the bigger group was 1' 20'' behind including some of the riders that are at the top of the GC, like Alejandro Valverde (Cofidis), Yoann Offredo (IAM) and Fran Ventoso (Movistar).
As the riders entered the last kilometer of the stage, Davide Rebellin (Astana) and Jelle Vanendert had jumped from the chasing group. However, they were still 30 seconds behind Johan Vansummeren and, considering the last kilometer was downhill, had little chances of catching up to him. A group of 5 was close behind them, including Simon Clarke (HTC), Philippe Gilbert (Vacansoleil) and Michal Kwiatkowski. Nevertheless, the gaps among the groups were really small and even the bigger group that had fallen behind during the climb was closing the gap.
Johan Vansummeren wins in Zakopane! The HTC rider was a very unlikely winner today as this was quite a hilly stage. However, this is not the first time that we see Vansummeren perform to this level. The raw power that he has is ideal for this stages with many short climbs. It is his second win this season, the first one being Paris - Roubaix. The gap for Vansummeren at the finish line was 28 seconds. Davide Rebellin won the sprint of the group ahead of Jelle Vanendert, Simon Clarke and Philippe Gilbert. In the end, there were no gaps among the top riders in the GC.
The jury controversially decided not to award any time differences between the small groups that crossed the finish line so as many as 60 riders were tied 28 seconds behind Vansummeren. However, the Belgian had lost a lot of time in the first stage. This means that tomorrow's stage will be even more important in terms of the GC as it should be the one that crowns the winner of the Tour de Pologne. David Lopez and Jelle Vanendert tried to open a gap in the last few kilometers of today's stage but there are also other riders that will be in the mix.
The 6th stage is the key of the battle for the GC in the Tour de Pologne. The riders will have to tackle a circuit of almost 40 kilometers 5 times. All in the surroundings of Bukowina Tatrzanska. There are 3 climbs in each of the laps: Zab, Gliczarow Gorny and Bukowina Tatrzanska. Of those, the middle one is the toughest and any relevant attacks could come in that climb during the last couple of laps. Nevertheless, history tells us that the most likely outcome is an uphill sprint for the finish line in the last climb. Any attackers have had a hard time in the past succeeding.
Riders were joining the front group one by one during the first couple of laps and by the time they got to the 2nd climb to Gliczarow Gorny there were 7 riders at the break. The break included riders like Martin Elmiger (Orica), Maarten Tjallingii (Etixx), Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff), Igor Anton (Cofidis) and Yoann Offredo (IAM). Other riders like Nelson Oliveira (Tinkoff) and Thomas Voeckler (Dimension Data) were also trying to join the front group. Meanwhile, the deficit of the peloton was 5 minutes but they still had 126 kilometers to go.
Lampre was keeping a good pace during the whole day to keep the break within range because Nelson Oliveira and Yoann Offredo were very close in the GC. At the penultimate climb to Zab, Jonathan Castroviejo (Lampre) was leading the group and the gap was down to 2' 45''. The pace meant that a few riders were already starting to drop from the main bunch. The most relevant event in the last few laps was that Juanjo Cobo (HTC) tried to attacked from 85 kilometers away but he was not allowed by the main group. The Spaniard was too strong a rider to be let go.
The front group broke into pieces in the penultimate lap and only two riders stayed at the front with 48 kilometers to go: Pavel Brutt and Maarten Tjallingii. The pace was not too hard in the main group but they soon swallowed the rest of the riders from the early break. Jonathan Castroviejo was doing a great job for his team. The wind had been one of the problems for the break as it was very strong and a headwind in the climb to Gliczarow Gorny. It might mean that the attacks in the climb will be harder for the favorites. The KoM classification was one of the battles of the day and Gianni Meersman (Orica) was provisionally leading.
Vasil Kiryienka (IAM) was the first rider in the main group to successfully attack towards the end of the stage. By the time they finished climbing the last time to Zab he had left Maarten Tjallingii and Pavel Brutt behind. Another group of 3 important riders had also attacked: Wout Poels (Vacansoleil), Hubert Dupont (Euskaltel) and Simon Clarke (HTC). They were 1' 20'' behind Kiryienka but the main bunch was not keen on letting them go and Lotto took the responsibility to chase with Rafal Majka (Lotto), while he had Michele Scarponi (Astana) behind ready to chase as well.
The next climb was the last categorized. With 13 kilometers to go Frank Schleck (Etixx) attacked. He did not care about the headwind and joined Hubert Dupont and Simon Clarke. Wout Poels could not keep up with the pace and was caught by the main bunch. They were still 1' 15'' behind Vasil Kiryienka, while the main bunch was 1' 35'' behind. Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) was doing a great job in leading the bunch and not letting those strong riders open a gap. Meanwhile, Bjorn Leukemans (Lotto), who had spent most of the stage close to the front of the bunch, was also trying to attack.
David Lopez (Euskaltel) attacked with around 1.5 kilometers to go on the climb and dragged Jean-Christophe Peraud (Discovery) and Robert Kiserlosvki (Discovery) with him. However, they were still behind Frank Schleck an Bjorn Leukemans. The Belgian had attacked quite early in the climb and once he joined Schleck they were able to drop Hubert Dupont. They were only 15 seconds behind Vasil Kiryienka at the top, while David Lopez's group was 35 seconds behind the leader. The peloton had lost 1' 40'' already as there was no team to chase after Lampre run out of domestiques to use to defend the lead.
It looked like Vasil Kiryienka was going to be caught in the descent but he made it to the bottom of the final uphill section towards Bukowina Tatrzanska. He only had a 20 seconds gap to tackle the 2 kilometers climb over a group of 5 riders, as David Lopez's group caught up to Frank Schleck and Bjorn Leukemans. There were 2 Discovery Channel riders in that group so they could sacrifice one of them to launch the chasing group forward. A bit further behind, the main bunch had cut their loss to 1' 05'' but it looked like the fight for the GC was in the group chasing Kiryienka.
The gap was clearly not enough for Vasil Kiryienka and he quickly dropped down the order as the favorites started attacking for the stage win. Frank Schleck was leading the way with 800 meters to go but he could not leave behind Jean-Christophe Peraud, David Lopez or Bjorn Leukemans. Kiryienka and Robert Kiserlovski were already behind, around 20 seconds from the lead and they were joined by Jelle Vanendert (Lotto), who had attacked at the bottom of the climb. Meanwhile, there had been a crash at the corner before the climb; Wout Poels and Alejandro Valverde (Cofidis) were both affected. They were going to lose their top places in the GC.
David Lopez wins in Bukowina Tatrzanska! The Spaniard did not look like the strongest at the start of the attacks in the last climb but he played it cool to come back and get past Frank Schleck for the stage win. This is his 8th win of the season and he looks really strong ahead of the start of the Vuelta a España. The second place was snatched by Jelle Vanendert in a really strong uphill finish for the Belgian. He started way behind in the main bunch and almost took the win in the final meters of the stage. Vanendert is probably the strongest rider in uphill finishes and his wins in La Fleche Wallonne are a good proof.
Frank Schleck and Bjorn Leukemans were also on the same time as the winner but Jean-Christophe Peraud dropped 8 seconds at the finish line. Those 5 riders are also the top 5 in the GC as was expected before the stage. The main group crossed the finish line 30 seconds behind led by Hubert Dupont and Davide Rebellin (Astana) and containing many riders, including the leader, Diego Ulissi (Lampre). Given that tomorrow's stage is very flat, it is unlikely that the GC changes so we are set for another win for David Lopez, while Jelle Vanendert and Frank Schleck should join him in the podium.
We have another young rider in the featured riders section this time. Tom Slagter has only been around a bit less than 4 years in the World Tour but the 25 year-old has given hints of how good a rider he might be in the future. His best seasons so far have been the last 2, as Cannondale have been brave enough to start giving him a room to shine. When he signed in 2016, a free role was given to 2 youngsters that should shine over the hills: Francesco Gavazzi and Tom Slagter. Even though Gavazzi came from a very goos 2015 season with the team, Slagter beat him clearly and the season ended with the Italian packing towards Lampre.
The season had been very good for a young rider with a 4th place in the Amstel Gold Race, a 9th in Quebec and a narrow miss for a stage at the Vuelta a España. It was a very good season but similar to the one produced by Gavazzi in 2015 so it brought a bit of criticism the fact that Slagter was the one who kept the role, especially as Cannondale is a team that inherits from Liquigas. In 2017 Slagter cannot be considered one of the leaders of the team yet but he is clearly the most important rider of the team in the hilly classics, focusing mainly on the Ardennes.
Looking back at the decision to keep Slagter, the decision was the right one so far. The Dutch was 2nd in the Amstel Gold Race, a race he seems to particularly like, 4th in La Fleche Wallonne and in the Clasica de San Sebastian. This has made him the second most valuable rider in the team so far, way ahead of Fabian Cancellara and Michael Matthews. If he keeps getting the same kind of performances we could well be in front of a rider that will battle for a couple of the monuments in the near future. Those have proven to be too hard for him so far.
As we said, the future looks bright for him and it is quite likely that he will get a leader spot in next year's Cannondale squad. He has a contract for another year and he has the confidence that the Cannondale management put their faith on him. He just needs to perform consistently through the season and he has the race in Montreal later in the year to prove that.
It is the last stage of the race in Poland and it should be one for the sprinters. The riders have transferred to Krakow from the Polish south border and the organization has prepared a rather short race that resembles more a criterium than a stage. The length of the stage will only be 132 kilometers and the stage is completely flat so it will be difficult for any attackers to avoid a mass sprint for the line. Additionally, the weather will be quite nice but there will be a bit of wind. However, riding in the middle of the city will most likely make it easier for the riders.
It took a long while for a break to settle at the front as the teams of the sprinters controlled the race until the first intermediate sprint, which was won by Lloyd Mondory (Etixx). Soon after the break of the day was formed, made up of 7 riders including David Millar (HTC), John Gadret (FDJ), Luke Durbridge (Cofidis), Samuel Dumoulin (Orica) and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data). With 70 kilometers to go they had a gap of 4' 30'' over the main bunch and they were already in the final circuit around Krakow. Meanwhile, Tinkoff was doing most of the work at the bunch as they did in the stage finishing in Katowice.
The second intermediate sprint was placed only 26 kilometers from the finish line, when 2 laps remained in the final circuit. Lloyd Mondory was again the quickest in the main bunch ahead of Andre Greipel (Lotto) and Tyler Farrar (Tinkoff). Their teams had been working hard to avoid a repetition of the 4th stage and they had cut the gap to only 1' 40''. This reduction in the gap started to trigger attacks in the front group. With still a few kilometers to go they were facing a really tough task to stay at the front. The wind that was predicted did not have much of an effect in the end due to the constant change of direction.
Luke Durbridge was still trying to make the break survive a bit longer but it was a difficult task. He had Maxime Vantomme (Vacansoleil) following him but their gap to the bunch was only 25 seconds with 9 kilometers to go. Lotto had taken over the lead in the peloton with Sep Vanmarcke (Lotto) and Rafal Majka (Lotto). The Belgian is quite strong in the flat and he alone could well bring the front group back. The sprinters were already starting to come close to the front of the race but we could also see David Lopez (Euskaltel). He could still lose the race due to the bonus seconds at the finish line, which would be a dramatic end to the race.
Rob Ruijgh (Lotto) was leading the way with 3 kilometers to go and his pace managed to break down Tinkoff's train, which was lining side by side with them. He still had Chris Sutton (Lotto) ready to work for Andre Greipel. The German has not been able to win yet in the Tour de Pologne but his team looks in good shape to allow him to do it. Nevertheless, he had rivals well positioned behind, like Elia Viviani (Euskaltel), Fran Ventoso (Movistar) and Tyler Farrar. On the other hand, Lloyd Mondory was riding quite far down the order, between the 15th and 20th positions in the group. Another of the sprinters, Yauheni Hutarovich (IAM), had crashed shortly before.
The Lotto riders were very well prepared for the final sprint but Chris Sutton and Andre Greipel tripped with each other and got completely out of position ahead of the last kilometer. That left Elia Viviani leading the race but Fran Ventoso and Tyler Farrar were already trying to get ahead as the Italian looked a bit slow in his start of the final sprint. Stefan van Dijk (Vacansoleil) was also trying to get something out of the stage as he had also placed himself ahead of the Lotto riders. It was a difficult sprint to call. Another rider that would not fight for it would be the current World Champion, Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar). The Spaniard has only been a shadow of himself so far this season.
Elia Viviani completely faded and with 600 meters to go he was dropping down the order. On the other hand, Fran Ventoso was starting to build an advantage at the front and even though Tyler Farrar was trying to close it down it looked increasingly likely that the Spaniard would take the final stage of the Tour de Pologne. Stefan van Dijk was also making progress but was too far behind to think about the stage at that point. A bit further behind we could see Paul Martens (HTC) and Andre Greipel, the latter missing another chance of taking a stage win in the race. He looked in good shape for the race but had no luck when it came to the final delivery.
Francisco Ventoso wins in Krakow! It was a very clear win by the Spaniard, who grabbed his first win of the season. Ventoso has been quite solid this year and had many good positions in sprints. However, he had not been able to convert that into wins so far this year. The win also means that he will jump to the 7th final position in the GC thanks to the bonus seconds. The second place in the stage went to a very fast finishing Lloyd Mondory. He did an amazing sprint but was so badly positioned ahead of the last couple of kilometers that it was not enough for the win.
Andre Greipel was also quite fast and took the 3rd position, while the top 5 was completed by Tyler Farrar and Paul Martens. It is also worth noting how out of form looks Elia Viviani as he could not even get a place in the top 10 in the stage. This finished the Tour de Pologne and there were no GC riders trying to improve their positions in the final stage thanks to bonus seconds. David Lopez took yet another win this year and his approach to the Vuelta a España could not be better. He will be joined in the podium by Jelle Vanendert (Lotto) and Frank Schleck (Etixx). It is quite likely that those riders will also be in the spotlight in the Vuelta and they all seem to be in top shape.
