Since our first outing there, the Wolfpack has amassed more than a dozen stage victories and two overall triumphs, most recent of these being recorded last year.
Unlike previous editions, this year the Tour de Pologne will get underway with a hilly stage that could still see the sprinters in contention at the end, before giving the fast men a clear opportunity to shine twenty-four hours later, in Zamosc. Three classified climbs and an uphill finish in Przemysl will change the leader of the general classification on stage 3, which will be followed by two other tough tests, on the roads to Sanok and Rzeszow, respectively.
A regular finish since the race gained World Tour status, Bukovina Resort is back and will play host to a tough 15.4km uphill individual time trial which should set in stone the GC of this 79th edition. From there, the riders are set to travel to Krakow Sunday afternoon, for a final showdown between the sprinters.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s squad for the 25th World Tour race of the season will be headlined by Mark Cavendish, who will be back in action for the first time since triumphing at the British National Championships last month, a victory that moved him up to joint-third in a ranking of the most successful riders in history just behind Eddy Merckx and Rik Van Looy.
Joining the Manxman – who will race here for the third time in his career – at the 79th running of the Tour de Pologne will be Rémi Cavagna, Josef Cerny, Tour of Belgium winner Mauro Schmid, Zdenek Stybar, Bert Van Lerberghe and Mauri Vansevenant.
“It’s a beautiful Tour of Poland with chances for every type of rider. The first two stages will be sprint stages, where we have Mark ready to fight for a good result, with Bert, Zdenek and Josef there to support him; then the third stage is the same as last year with the steep 1.5km uphill finish which will reshuffle the standings, where Mauro and Mauri could be in the mix.”
“Stage four and five can maybe come down to a bunch sprint or maybe not, they can also be for the puncheurs, but even the breakaway will have a chance there. In the stage six individual time trial, we’ll look to Rémi and Mauro for a good result, as the latter proved he can do well in this discipline. Finally, the last stage should be again one for the sprinters, but it will all depend on how the GC teams will race it”, explained Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sports director Geert Van Bondt.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
