Bilbao eyes yellow jersey after second place at Tour de Pologne - "We are in good shape"

Pello Bilbao came to the Tour de Pologne as one of the main favourites, and in today's steep finale at Przemysl the Basque climber put on a strong performance to finish second only behind Sergio Higuita.

“We are showing we are in good shape, with a good attitude, and the team is working really well every day," Bilbao said in a post-race interview. "Our goal was to fight on every single stage of the Tour of Poland, and to fight for the overall, but now we just need to hit the target!"

The third stage was all about the hilltop finish, in which Bilbao stayed relatively hidden until the final bend, where he emerged from the GC group with a powerful sprint. However, he left it too late, not having the road to catch up with Sergio Higuita who had been in the front before he made his acceleration.

Nevertheless, Bilbao now sits second in the overall classification only four seconds behind the BORA - hansgrohe rider, and will with no doubt be one of the main favourites to take the final yellow jersey. Tomorrow's stage provides another opportunity to attack as the race will once again ride around the hills of sourtheastern Poland.

"I’m happy because I can see that the work I’ve done in the past few weeks preparing for this race is working: I’m quite explosive, I feel fresh, so that’s really good news, and I’m pleased to feel these legs and this punch," he concluded.