Route:
Pretty much the same as over previous years – the same race design and the same geographical area. A well-balanced combination of flat stages for the pure sprinters and rolling hilly/medium mountain stages ending with uphill finishes for GC contenders. Stages are short or very short as per WT standards (the longest stage = 179 km). No time trial.
Stage 1: Kraków – Kraków, 134 km (flat)
Stage 2: Tarnowskie Góry – Katowice, 156 km (flat)
Stage 3: Chorzów – Zabrze, 139 km (flat)
Stage 4: Jaworzno – Szczyrk, 179 km (hilly/medium mountain, HTF)
This is where the real race begins for the GC contenders (last year, Dylan Teuns won on the same short sharp final climb, and that ultimately proved enough for the overall GC triumph).
Stage 5: Wieliczka – Bielsko-Biała, 152 km (hilly)
This could be an interesting stage to watch, as all the main difficulties of the day are located in the last 40 km of the race, ending with a rather demanding lap to be ridden three times (2 km long uphill drag to the finish line, 4% on average). This may prove too much for typical sprinters. “All-terrain” sprinters or puncheurs can take this one.
Stage 6: Zakopane – Bukowina Tatrzańska, 129 km (hilly/medium mountain, HTF)
An Ardennes-type stage (but shortish), typical for the final phase of this race. Either a solo win of a GC contender or a sprint from a reduced group of GC favourites.
Stage 7: Bukowina Tatrzańska – Bukowina Tatrzańska, 136 km (hilly/medium mountain, HTF)
Very similar to stage 6, just a different combination of climbs. The same prediction: a solo GC guy win or an uphill sprint fight between several GC contenders.
Startlist (teams and notable riders):
Ag2R (Bakelants)
Astana (Lutsenko)
Bahrain (Bonifazio, Gasparotto, Visconti)
BMC (Dennis, Roche, Teuns)
Bora (Ackermann, Buchmann, Formolo, Konrad)
Dimension Data (Boasson Hagen, O’Connor)
EF-Cannondale (Modolo, Moreno)
Groupama-FdJ (Pinot)
Katusha (Spilak)
Lotto-Jumbo (Bennett, van Poppel)
Lotto-Soudal (Greipel)
Mitchelton (Albasini, Kreuziger, Mezgec, Trentin, S. Yates)
Movistar (Betancur, Carapaz)
Quickstep (de Plus, Hodeg)
Sky (Henao, Kwiatkowski)
Sunweb (Bauhaus, Oomen)
Trek (Brambilla, Nizzolo, Pantano)
UAE Emirates (Aru, Consonni, Costa)
Wildcards:
CCC (Antunes, Tratnik)
Cofidis (Bouhanni)
Gazprom (Rovny)
Poland national team (Paterski, Rutkiewicz)
Full startlist (provisional):
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-pologne/2018/startlist
There will be a solid bunch of top- and second-tier sprinters (Ackermann, Bauhaus, Bonifazio, Bouhanni, Consonni, Greipel, Hodeg, Mezgec, Modolo, Nizzolo, van Poppel) going for flat sprint stages, plus some fast guys who could do well also in hilly terrain (Battaglin, Boasson Hagen, Trentin, Visconti).
GC-wise, the favourites seem to be (in alphabetical order): Aru, Bennett, Betancur, Brambilla, Buchmann, Carapaz, de Plus, Formolo, Henao, Konrad, Kwiatkowski, O’Connor, Oomen, Pantano, Pinot, Spilak, Teuns, S. Yates. This is ofc based on the assumption that they are all in shape and they will treat this event not as a prep race only.
Quite a lot of national champions in the peloton: Ackermann (Germany), Duchesne (Canada), Edmondson (Australia), Henao (Colombia), Kwiatkowski (Poland), Lutsenko (Kazakhstan), Morkov (Denmark) and Rovny (Russia).
Roadbook: http://www.tourdepologne.pl/pl/media/#
Pretty much the same as over previous years – the same race design and the same geographical area. A well-balanced combination of flat stages for the pure sprinters and rolling hilly/medium mountain stages ending with uphill finishes for GC contenders. Stages are short or very short as per WT standards (the longest stage = 179 km). No time trial.
Stage 1: Kraków – Kraków, 134 km (flat)
Stage 2: Tarnowskie Góry – Katowice, 156 km (flat)
Stage 3: Chorzów – Zabrze, 139 km (flat)
Stage 4: Jaworzno – Szczyrk, 179 km (hilly/medium mountain, HTF)
This is where the real race begins for the GC contenders (last year, Dylan Teuns won on the same short sharp final climb, and that ultimately proved enough for the overall GC triumph).
Stage 5: Wieliczka – Bielsko-Biała, 152 km (hilly)
This could be an interesting stage to watch, as all the main difficulties of the day are located in the last 40 km of the race, ending with a rather demanding lap to be ridden three times (2 km long uphill drag to the finish line, 4% on average). This may prove too much for typical sprinters. “All-terrain” sprinters or puncheurs can take this one.
Stage 6: Zakopane – Bukowina Tatrzańska, 129 km (hilly/medium mountain, HTF)
An Ardennes-type stage (but shortish), typical for the final phase of this race. Either a solo win of a GC contender or a sprint from a reduced group of GC favourites.
Stage 7: Bukowina Tatrzańska – Bukowina Tatrzańska, 136 km (hilly/medium mountain, HTF)
Very similar to stage 6, just a different combination of climbs. The same prediction: a solo GC guy win or an uphill sprint fight between several GC contenders.
Startlist (teams and notable riders):
Ag2R (Bakelants)
Astana (Lutsenko)
Bahrain (Bonifazio, Gasparotto, Visconti)
BMC (Dennis, Roche, Teuns)
Bora (Ackermann, Buchmann, Formolo, Konrad)
Dimension Data (Boasson Hagen, O’Connor)
EF-Cannondale (Modolo, Moreno)
Groupama-FdJ (Pinot)
Katusha (Spilak)
Lotto-Jumbo (Bennett, van Poppel)
Lotto-Soudal (Greipel)
Mitchelton (Albasini, Kreuziger, Mezgec, Trentin, S. Yates)
Movistar (Betancur, Carapaz)
Quickstep (de Plus, Hodeg)
Sky (Henao, Kwiatkowski)
Sunweb (Bauhaus, Oomen)
Trek (Brambilla, Nizzolo, Pantano)
UAE Emirates (Aru, Consonni, Costa)
Wildcards:
CCC (Antunes, Tratnik)
Cofidis (Bouhanni)
Gazprom (Rovny)
Poland national team (Paterski, Rutkiewicz)
Full startlist (provisional):
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-pologne/2018/startlist
There will be a solid bunch of top- and second-tier sprinters (Ackermann, Bauhaus, Bonifazio, Bouhanni, Consonni, Greipel, Hodeg, Mezgec, Modolo, Nizzolo, van Poppel) going for flat sprint stages, plus some fast guys who could do well also in hilly terrain (Battaglin, Boasson Hagen, Trentin, Visconti).
GC-wise, the favourites seem to be (in alphabetical order): Aru, Bennett, Betancur, Brambilla, Buchmann, Carapaz, de Plus, Formolo, Henao, Konrad, Kwiatkowski, O’Connor, Oomen, Pantano, Pinot, Spilak, Teuns, S. Yates. This is ofc based on the assumption that they are all in shape and they will treat this event not as a prep race only.
Quite a lot of national champions in the peloton: Ackermann (Germany), Duchesne (Canada), Edmondson (Australia), Henao (Colombia), Kwiatkowski (Poland), Lutsenko (Kazakhstan), Morkov (Denmark) and Rovny (Russia).
Roadbook: http://www.tourdepologne.pl/pl/media/#
And last year (very similar) it was also made up for Kwiato. Even though he did not compete 
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