With a very successful Tour de France still fresh in mind and with the World Championships just over a week away, stage racing continues for Team Bahrain Victorious at the 80th Tour de Pologne.
As usual, the 7-day race features a variety of parcours and includes a 16.6 km time trial on Thursday, which will see the overall GC decided. There are three stages for the fast men, three uphill finishes, and possibilities for each and every type of rider.
Lead Sports Director on his home race will be Michal Golaś, who gave us his thoughts ahead of the start in Poznań:
“This year, it’s a classic parcours; three hard days, three sprints and a time trial. There are three stages where the GC will be decided, starting with an uphill finish in Karpacz, which many of the riders and Sports Directors know well. It’s a pretty balanced route and should be a battle between time trialists who can fight and ‘Classics’ riders like Matej Mohorič, who will hope to pick up bonuses by winning stages & then do a decent TT.”
Mohorič – winner of one of the most memorable Tour de France stages in recent history last week – takes to the start for a 6th time and has one success in Poland to his name already, from the 2019 edition. He will lead our GC charge, supported by road captain Damiano Caruso, returning for the first time since 2014, and the team’s newest addition, Antonio Tiberi. The Italian starts just his second stage race with Bahrain, having ridden at the Tour de Suisse until the team withdrew following the tragic passing of Gino Mäder. He performed impressively at the nationals last month, in both the road race and time trial, where he finished 5th behind double World Champion Filippo Ganna.
Golaś continues,
“Our team is very strong. We want to keep the momentum from taking three wins at the Tour de France, and with Matej as our leader, we should do well in the GC and challenge for some stages. Of course, after the Tour, it’s never easy to recover or train, so let’s see.
Riding for Matej are Damiano Caruso and Antonio Tiberi, who should be good in the TT and also in the mountains. That’s our GC group.”
The contest for overall victory will start in earnest on Sunday when the final third of the 203 kms from Leszno to Karpacz is made up of 2 categorised climbs before a summit finish.
Stage 3 is also a tough day in the saddle, 163 kms from Wałbrzych to Duszniki-Zdrój, with barely any flat. It’s uphill to the line again too, with the last 900 metres averaging 9% and peaking at 15%
The last chance for the GC contenders to create time gaps before the S6 time trial comes the day before. More than 3000m of elevation gain over five climbs, ending with four laps of a circuit in Bielsko-Biala. The ITT that follows is pan-flat and made for the specialists against the clock.
The other three stages (1,4 & 7) are designed with the sprinters in mind, and as Golaś explains, offer an opportunity for one of our brightest young prospects to shine on the elite stage.
“Matevž Govekar will have the chance to sprint against some big names on the flat stages. With the experience of Andrea Pasqualon and Kamil Gradek [who is on home roads] alongside him, he can achieve some good results. Our last rider is Fran Miholjević, who turns 21 on Wednesday and comes to Poland in great shape after a big training block.
With such a complete team, we’re hoping to fight on every stage, and our aim is at least the overall podium and some stage wins.”
The Tour de Pologne runs from Saturday, July 29th, to Friday, August 4th.
