Tour of Poland

Tour of Poland
Stage 7:  Nowy Targ to Kraków, 163.9km/102mi
By Cathy Mehl

Heavy rain in the second half of the stage made for another difficult day of racing in the Tour of Poland’s final stage on Saturday.  Yesterday’s heavy storm at the end of the race gave way to sunny skies at today’s start but more rain and sticky temperatures were on tap at the  finish in Kraków.  Very dicey turns over slippery cobbled roads leading into the city center and pools of water forming on the surface made the finish dangerous for the entire group, but German Andre Greipel (HTC-Columbia) showed  no fear and ramped up a winning sprint for his second stage win in this year’s trace.  Second and third went to Yauheni Hutarovich (Française Des Jeux) and Robert Förster of Rabobank.  The Shack’s Tomas Vaitkus was in the mix for the sprint after an earlier attempt to bridge to a break in the local laps near the race end.

Tour of Poland
Stage 6:  Oswiecim to Bukowina Tatrzanska, 228.5km/142km
By Cathy Mehl
A bold attack with 3km to go put  Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema in the driver’s seat on Friday’s stage 6 of the Tour of Poland.  At only 29-seconds off the time of race leader Dan Martin (Garmin), the yellow jersey had to respond alone to chase down the attack and limit his time loss to the Dutch rider.  Mollema stayed ahead and took the victory on the finish line by seven seconds, but Martin’s efforts kept him in the race lead by an eight second margin with only one stage to go.   The Shack’s Tiago Machado rode with the chasing group on the final climb, coming across the line in fifth place.  His results moved him into 11th for the classification as the best-placed Team rider.

Tour of Poland
Stage 5:  Astrzebie Zdroj to Ustron, 149km/93mi
By Cathy Mehl

On the first of two back-to-back uphill finishes, Thursday’s stage 5 in the Tour of Poland brought on another new race leader.  An attack put in by 23-year old Daniel Martin (Garmin) on the final climb lifted the Irish rider to the stage win and into the yellow jersey with an advantage of 14-seconds over Grega Bole (Lampre-Farnese Vini).  A select group of nine riders tried to follow Martin’s strong effort, but no one could reach him before the finish line, leaving the group to sprint it out with second and third places going to Bole and Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas-Doimo) on the stage.  Team RadioShack’s Tiago Machado was just off the pace of the chasing group, taking 11th at 31 seconds back.  His efforts moved our Portuguese rider into 12th overall as the best placed Team rider.

Tour of Poland
Stage 4:  Tychy to Cieszyn, 177.9km/110mi
By Cathy Mehl

Day four at the Tour of Poland brought a new rider to the leader’s jersey with Italian Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre-Farnese Vini) taking the stage victory with enough time to move him into the yellow jersey as well with three stages remaining to race.  A technical run to the line over a slightly uphill, cobbled course saw Lorenzetto with the hole shot around the final turn.  His eagerness almost put his teammate Grego Bole into the barrier, but he stayed upright to take second on the stage, followed by defending champion Alessandro Ballan of BMC Racing Team.

Tour of Poland
Stage 3: Sosnowiec to Katowice, 122.1km/76mi
By Cathy Mehl

It was a typical northern European style of racing on Tuesday’s stage 3 in the Tour of Poland with seven closing circuits of 11.7km each in the city of Katowice.  Raced on wide boulevards before large, enthusiastic crowds, the stage resulted in a sprint victory for the third day in a row.  Today’s victory went to Yauheni Hutarovich (FdJ) in an almost photo finish with Sebastian Haedo (Saxo Bank).  Race leader Allan Davis of Astana took third on the stage and retained his race lead for a second day. Team rider Sébastien Rosseler moved into 19-th place on the classification and is the best-placed rider for Team RadioShack.

 

Tour of Poland
Stage 2: Rawa Mazowiecka-Dabrowa Górnicza, 240km/149mi
By Cathy Mehl

It was a long, hot ride for the peloton in stage 2 of the Tour of Poland on Monday.  Spending a massive six hours in the saddle, two riders from a day-long break almost survived to the line, but were brought back in the last closing circuit to set up a group sprint.   German Andre Greipel (HTC-Columbia) pulled off the right barrier to shoot straight up the center of the course and take the win more than a bike length ahead of Allan Davis (Astana) and Wouter Weylandt of Quick Step.  Davis’ strong showing in both of the opening stages put him into the leader’s jersey with five stages to go. 

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.