Tour of Poland

Stage 1:  Sochaczew to Warszawa, 175.1km/109mi

By Cathy Mehl

A high-speed crash in the closing 1.5km of racing took down half or delayed half the field,  leaving only some twenty riders to contest the sprint at the end of the opener in the Tour of Poland.  Despite racing on wide boulevards, a touch of wheels or collision with a barrier brought down Saxo Bank’s Juan Jose Haedo among others, as the sprinters were fighting for position in the final run in.  Italian Jacopo Guarnieri (Liquigas-Doimo) took the first victory and will wear the leader’s jersey on Monday’s second stage.  The podium was rounded out with Aitor Galdos Alonso of Euskaltel-Euskadi and Allan Davis (Astana). Warszawa welcomed the pro tour teams in a most colorful display of sponsor inflatables and banners, as well as many road arches spanning the streets in the final 3km creating a festive atmosphere for the 22 competing teams.

Team Director Viatcheslav Ekimov checked in after the race, confirming that all Shack riders made it safely through the crash zone.  “Seba had crashed at some 50k to go and hurt his right shoulder a little bit.  It doesn’t seem to be too bad though.  In the final crash none of our guys were directly involved and our riders are feeling good.”   Team RadioShack’s Fumy Beppu was in the final mix and best-placed Team rider for 13-th place.

An early break of four riders stayed away in the first half of the race before hitting the eight laps of the 8.1km closing circuit.  Included in the break were Michael Schär (BMC Racing) and  Laszlo Bodrogi (Katusha).   The group held almost four minutes when they entered the circuit for the first time, but the teams of the sprinters worked hard in the chase to ensure a sprint finish.   Bodrogi attacked his group on one of the final laps and built an advantage of almost one minute, but the peloton chased him down with plenty of work being put in by Team RadioShack, HTC-Columbia and Saxo Bank. 

Monday’s stage 2  from Rawa Mazowiecka-Dabrowa to Gornicza is the longest of this year’s race at a whopping  240km/149mi. 

Beyond the Finish Line:  Are you following the Tour of Poland in person?  If so, be on the lookout for Pola, the bee.  She’s the first mascot the Tour of Poland has had in its 67 year history and promises to be a hit with the children in the crowd.  The bee was chosen because this insect is brave, determined and tenacious and perfectly symbolizes the teamwork needed to put together a bike race.  I think it symbolizes the spirit of teamwork of the riders too.

Top Ten Results

1   GUARNIERI Jacopo          LIQ 04h 05' 32''

2   GALDOS ALONSO Aitor       EUS 00' 00''  

3   DAVIS Allan               AST 00' 00''  

4   CHAVANEL Sébastien        FDJ 00' 00''  

5   MARYCZ Jarosław           SAX 00' 00''  

6   SUTTON Christopher        SKY 00' 00''  

7   KRISTOFF Alexander        BMC 00' 00''  

8   SIEBERG Marcel            THR 00' 00''  

9   WEYLANDT Wouter           QST 00' 00''  

10  DRUJON Mathieu            GCE 00' 00''

Brief Team RadioShack Results

13  BEPPU Fumiyuki            RSH 00' 00''

22  SELANDER Bjorn            RSH 00' 00''

36  ROVNY Ivan                RSH 00' 00''

50  MACHADO Tiago             RSH 00' 00''         

78  VAITKUS Tomas             RSH 00' 00''

81  IMPEY Daryl               RSH 00' 00''         

82  ROSSELER Sébastien        RSH 00' 00''

General Classification after Stage 1

1              Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo    4:05:22                   

2              Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi      0:00:04  

3              Allan Davis (Aus) Astana               0:00:06  

4              Daniel Sesma (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi   0:00:08  

5              Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française Des Jeux       0:00:10  

6              Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) Team Saxo Bank                  

7              Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Professional Cycling Team                                 

8              Alexander Kristoff (Nor) BMC Racing Team                           

9              Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia                           

10            Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step

Brief Team RadioShack on General Classification

14           Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)

23           Bjorn Selander (USA)

37           Ivan Rovny (Rus)

51           Tiago Machado (Por)