PREVIEW | Tour de Pologne 2023 stage 1 - Sam Bennett's opportunity to take revenge after Tour de France
Cycling
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.
Stage 1: Poznan - Poznan, 183.7 kilometers
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.
Stage 1 Finale
The Weather
Map Tour de Pologne 2023 stage 1
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.
Read also
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
** Sam Bennett, Fernando Gaviria, Gerben Thijssen
* Pascal Ackermann, Arvid de Kleijn, Jakub Mareczko, Stanislaw Aniolkowski, Matteo Moschetti
Pick: Tim Merlier
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
Loading
🇵🇱 Tak prezentuje się mapa 80. Tour de Pologne UCI WorldTour! To będzie naprawdę wyjątkowa edycja. 🇵🇱🚴 🇬🇧 This is the map of the 80th Tour de Pologne UCI WorldTour! This is going to be a really special edition. 🇵🇱🚴 — #TdP2023
Write a comment