The Tour de Pologne has it’s start in Kielce this year, for an edition that will take place fully in the southeast of the country. The opening day of the race will be one for the sprinters, with an interesting finale and an important win on the line for the riders.
The first stage of the race is likely to see the first leader of the race emerge as a fast man, someone who will likely not hold onto the lead of the race for long however will make for an exciting finish.
The stage will have 218 kilometers in distance, a complicated affair for the peloton, which will see some rolling roads en route to Lublin where the day will have it’s finale.
It should be a bunch sprint finish for the riders, however far from a simple one. The rolling roads will see the riders dive into the final two kilometers at high speed. The final 750 meters will have an uphill tilt to it, with gradients of around 4/5% through around 350 meters until the 400 meter to go mark, with a false-flat gradient until the finish, having a sharp turn with 200 meters to go.
CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Arnaud Démare
*** Mark Cavendish, Olav Kooij
** Sam Bennett, Kaden Groves, Elia Viviani
* Phil Bauhaus, Jakub Mareczko, Pascal Ackermann, Ethan Hayter