PREVIEW | Tour de Pologne 2025 stage 1 - Visma big favourites for opening sprint with Olav Kooij and Matthew Brennan

From the 4th to 10th of August the World Tour calendar continues with it's first post-Tour de France stage-race: the Tour de Pologne. This week-long race in Poland is always packed with opportunities for the sprinters, classics riders and time-trialists. We preview stage 1.

The race starts off in the city of Wroclaw and the opening stage will be fit for the sprinters. It will be one of the longest stages of the race with 199 kilometers in distance and there will be no obstacles in the way of the riders on the way to Legnica.

The final 2 kilometers will be somewhat technical however, not having any sharp corners present, but some slight turning all throughout these two minutes of effort that could be very treacherous and where entering well positioned will be crucial. Team Visma | Lease a Bike will be the main favourites to win this opening stage with Olav Kooij being the main name at the startlist for the bunch sprints but in addition to that having Matthew Brennan as a potential leadout man.

But a bunch sprint is never a certainty and never easy to get right, so the slightest mistake can cost Visma a potential win and there are quality riders looking to take advantage of that such as Giro d'Italia stage winner Casper van Uden and the returning Arvid de Kleijn who's had a rough 2025 season with injuries - but comes with his strong leadout backing him up. The likes of Sam Bennett, Paul Magnier and Ethan Vernon will make this a difficult task for anyone to succeed.

*** Olav Kooij, Casper van Uden
** Arvid de Kleijn, Ethan Vernon
* Paul Magnier, Sam Bennett, Matthew Brennan, Fernando Gaviria, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Stanislaw Aniolkowski, Gerben Thijssen, Elia Viviani, Max Kanter, Madis Mihkels

Pick: Olav Kooij

How: Regular bunch sprint.