Before the Worlds, Poland
The Tour de Pologne was first held in 1928 and has been part of the UCI WorldTour since its creation in 2009. Its traditional dates are at the end of July and the beginning of August, one week after the end of the Tour de France. This year, as the World Championships have been moved up to August, some cyclists will use the Tour de Pologne to fine-tune their form before the World Championships in Glasgow, especially due to the time trial, which will bring together several specialists in the discipline who will participate in the Worlds.
Route
As usual, the race features a combination of flat stages for sprinters (stages 1, 4, and 7), medium mountain stages (stages 2, 3, and 5), and a time trial (stage 6). The general classification will presumably be decided on the second stage, with the finish in Karpacz (3.7 km at 6.9%; final ramp of 1.6 km at 9.5%) and in the ITT.
Favorites
With 3 days left until the start of the race, many teams have yet to confirm their line-ups. For now, the Ineos Grenadiers team stands out, with a strong lineup featuring Geraint Thomas (1000), Pavel Sivakov (600), Thymen Arensman (800), and the local legend Michal Kwiatkowski (400). Another team with aspirations for the overall classification is the UAE Team Emirates, which has three strong contenders in João Almeida (1200), Brandon McNulty (800), and Rafal Majka (400). Other riders who may be competitive in the race are Sergio Higuita (1000), Andreas Kron (400), Damiano Caruso (600), Lennard Kämna (600), Koen Bouwman (400), and Jan Hirt (400), among others.
For the sprints, Olav Kooij (1000), Tm Merlier (800), Pascal Ackermann (600), Sam Bennet (600), Gerben Thijssen (400), Arvid de Klein (400), Jonathan Milan (600), Jakub Mareczko (400), Maximilian Walscheid (400), Stanislav Aniolkowski (200), and Iván García Cortina (400) form a strong group of sprinters.
Among the time trial specialists, besides Thomas, Kwiatkowski, Arensman, Almeida, and McNulty, other standouts include Stefan Bisseger (600), Josef Černý (200), Mattia Cattaneo (400), Jos Van Emden (200), Rune Herregodts (200), Michael Hepburn (200), and the current ITT world champion, Tobias Foss (400).
Photo: © Tour de Pologne / Szymon Gruchalski