78th Tour de Pologne (2.UWT) Stage 5»Chochołów›Bielsko-Biała(172.8km)

Preview
The organisers introduced this stage back in 2018, when Michał Kwiatkowski took the win.

The following year it was Luca Mezgec who crossed the line first and last year it was Richard Carapaz who surprised the pack with a daring late attack.



Each year the organisers have tinkered with the opening half of the stage, last year they added more climbing which killed the hoped of the fast men. This year they’ve gone back to a stage similar to when Kwiatkowski and Mezgec won, but will the fast men be able to hold on? It really is a finish that sits right on the limit of even the best climbing sprinters.


This is the cat 1 climb which the bunch tackle before hitting the lap circuit. It’s not that hard, but it puts fatigue into the legs of the sprinters, which hurts them in the final 10km

Laatste 3 km
This is the climb in the lap circuit, it’s a long drag, but harder than it looks. The final time up the riders only climb 1.6km of it, positioning for the roundabout is very important. Some sprinters will be at the front at this point, but when they go to open up their sprint the legs simply say no!

GC after stage 4:

803 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 42.547 km/hr
1 Joao Almeida Deceuninck-Quick Step 18hr 52min 24sec
2 Matej Mohoric Bahrain Victorious @ 8sec
3 Diego Ulissi UAE Team Emirates 0:14
4 Michal Kwiatkowski INEOS Grenadiers 0:21
5 Jai Hindley Team DSM 0:32
6 Dylan Teuns Bahrain Victorious s.t.
7 Lorenzo Rota Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert s.t.
8 Giovanni Aleotti Bora-hansgrohe s.t.
9 Einer Rubio Movistar 0:36
10 Tim Wellens Lotto Soudal s.t.
11 Mikkel Honore Deceuninck-Quick Step 0:37
12 Quinten Hermans Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert 0:47
13 Dion Smith Team BikeExchange 0:48
14 Ben Tulett Alpecin-Fenix s.t.
15 Clement Berthet Ag2r-Citroën s.t.

Bron: PCS, CI, BRI en Rowery

Ai, jammer, als Hermans net iets beter timet zat de zege erin!
Arndt klopt Mohoric en Almeida.

Opvallend veel valpartijen in de slotkilometer trouwens, ondanks de oplopende wegen. Veel nervositeit.