PREVIEW | Tour de Pologne 2023 stage 1 - Sam Bennett's opportunity to take revenge after Tour de France

Preview. Stage 1 of the Tour de Pologne will be a day for the sprinters and it should give way for a battle between Sam Bennett, Tim Merlier and Olav Kooij.

The biggest Polish race of the year begins with a pure day for the sprinters. Virtually no climbing in a route that starts and finishes in Poznan, it has 183.7 kilometers on the menu, quite a few intermediate sprints but eventually a bunch sprint seems to be inevitable.

The stage will end at the Tor Poznan, a racing circuit in the outskirts of the city. The riders enter the cicuit and cross the finish line for the first time with 4.5 kilometers to go. The next time coincides with the end of the stage.

In racing circuits as you know, the corners are not technical. It's a circuit made for speeds that the riders won't reach, so despite the several corner in the final kilometers, it's not a technical one. Nevertheless, there will be a slight right-hander with 300 meters to go which could prove decisive in the run-up to the sprint.

The Weather

Some rain will make for a tricky finale in Poznan, tension will be up and likely the GC teams will have even more effort in trying to stay in front. Luckily the finale is not technical, there will be a modest southwestern breeze, it should come as a cross-tailwind in the final sprint.

The Favourites

Sam Bennett - Sam Bennett was pulled from the Tour de France team without any explanation and that came as a shock. A departure from BORA - hansgrohe is certain at this point, the win of Jordi Meeus in Paris further cemented that decision. Bennett raced the Sibiu Tour where he won two stages but he did not face World Tour competition. Still it's victories, he will have the legs to win surely, but it'll be interesting to see if we'll have a demoralized or a hungry Bennett.

Tim Merlier - Merlier usually succeeds quite well in the opening days of stage-races. An interesting insight into the leader of Soudal - Quick-Step, he hasn't won in over two months, the team didn't really bring a strong leadout behind him but Bert van Lerberghe will still likely be able to do the job.

Olav Kooij - Not to be underestimated. Kooij has re-signed with Jumbo-Visma. Despite the lack of opportunities the Dutch rider stays and he has the legs to win in pretty much any sprint. He won the opening day here last year, with a solid leadout and six wins this season he can definitely repeat the feat.

The field is very big, there are a lot of quality sprinters. The Tour has had ultimate luxury but in all honesty the sprinter field here is also world-class. So outside those who could perhaps be called the 'big favourites', there still are quite a few figures who can realistically fight for the win - or the podium, and other spots in the Top10.

Gerben Thijssen and Pascal Ackermann for example are stage winners of last year and will have good opportunities to jump back into success here. Fernando Gaviria was a late addition to the startlist and will also be a good contender, having won at the Tour de Romandie earlier in the year. In the World Tour field we can include Jakub Mareczko, Jon Aberasturi, Marijn van den Berg, Paul Penhoët, and Arkéa features both Dan McLay and David Dekker.

Some ProTeams come along with strong lineups as well and their leaders for the sprinters present. Tudor will be supporting Arvid de Kliejn and Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team will be riding for Matteo Moschetti, both riders who have won big this year. In addition to that you can also feature Human Powered Health's leader Stanislaw Aniolkowski who will be racing at home and perhaps be the most motivated out of all riders.

Prediction Tour de Pologne 2023 stage 1:

*** Tim Merlier, Olav Kooij
** Sam Bennett, Fernando Gaviria, Gerben Thijssen
* Pascal Ackermann, Arvid de Kleijn, Jakub Mareczko, Stanislaw Aniolkowski, Matteo Moschetti

Pick: Tim Merlier