Tour de Pologne, 30 July - 5 August, 2.UWT

[dick the quick]

One of the less famous WT stage races – but still there should be some action to watch, as the race profile is designed to provide for an entertaining battle for single seconds between the top contenders until the very end.

As almost every year, the route is preferring hilly/classic specialists who are also doing well in TT. Sprinters will have their chances as well. No terrain for pure climbers.

Stage 1: Kielce – Lublin, 219 km (Saturday 30 July)

Long flat stage, not much more to add.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/ef/tour-de-pologne-2022-stage-1-profile-67ab059f31.jpg

Sprint specialists should have their chance to grab a yellow, unless the short bump inside the last kilometer will do some damage (which is not very likely):

https://www.tourdepologne.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/mapy/79-1-3km.jpg

Stage 2: Chełm – Zamość, 205 km (Sunday 31 July)

Another long flat stage for the sprinters.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/aa/tour-de-pologne-2022-stage-2-profile-25646eae22.jpg

Stage 3: Kraśnik – Przemyśl, 240 km (Monday 1 August)

The longest stage – and perhaps the decisive one as it features a sequence of short-but-kinda-steep-climbs after a long distance before:

https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/dc/tour-de-pologne-2022-stage-3-profile-60dc13afd9.jpg

And – which is maybe even more important – it ends on a steep HTF:

https://www.tourdepologne.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/mapy/79-3-3km.jpg

Stage 4: Lesko – Sanok, 179 km (Tuesday 2 August)

Hilly terrain, resembling much to Ardennes-type profile:

https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/ce/tour-de-pologne-2022-stage-4-profile-ffb8e1fc33.jpg

Normally, sprinters could have their another opportunity – but the finish is on a top of a short hill inside the historical city centre (pave):

https://www.tourdepologne.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/mapy/79-4-3km.jpg

Stage 5: Łańcut – Rzeszów, 178 km (Wednesday 3 August)

One more hilly stage:

https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/eb/tour-de-pologne-2022-stage-5-profile-a17b1dade6.jpg

The finish is on the flat and should suit the sprinters.

Stage 6: Nowy Targ – Stacja Narciarska Rusiński, ITT 11 km (Thursday 4 August)

A stage which may also impact the GC of the race, even if the distance is not long. The route goes uphill for (almost) the whole distance, but the gradients are rather shallow:

https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/cf/tour-de-pologne-2022-stage-6-profile-44927de85a.jpg

Stage 7: Skawina – Kraków, 178 km (Friday 5 August)

Hilly in the first part, the stage ends on a traditional flat circuit race inside the city of Cracow. A sprinter should take his scalp:

https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/profiles/ap/db/tour-de-pologne-2022-stage-7-profile-3e17b7041e.jpg

Starting list (not final yet): https://tdp.infocity.pl/lista_startowa.asp?lng=pl Not very impressive as per WT stage race standards. Honorable mentions:

QST – Cavendish
TBV – Bilbao, Bauhaus
BOH – Bennett, Higuita
GFC – Demare
IGD – Carapaz, Kwiatkowski, Viviani
LTS – de Gendt
UAD – Ackermann, Formolo, Ulissi

 

[RedheadDane]

One of the less famous WT stage races – but still there should be some action to watch, as the race profile is designed to provide for an entertaining battle for single seconds between the top contenders until the very end.

If you're in Poland...
I'm impressed you can even be bothered making a thread for this mysteriously Lesser Known (WT) Race.

 

[noob]

The reason it not popular might have been that we had to watch it on tiz last year as it wasn't broadcasted outside Poland.

Last year was Almeida first WT win. So for an Almeida fan it was fun. I felt bad for Kwiatkowski though. Hope Kwiat wins this year.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Cav two wins, Demare 1. Kwiatkowski to win his second GC here.

 

[AlfaLum]

Well the route is very impressive at least….

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Atrocious route, mediocre field and no international broadcast. With no Guangxi for three years running, surely this is now the most useless WT stage race?

 

[OlavEH]

Awful route. An no tv-coverage?

This is really bad. With the Benelux Tour also cancelled the last third of the race calendar this year is just dreadful. UCI really needs to do something the coming years about the calender after the Tour.

 

[tobydawq]

If you're in Poland...
I'm impressed you can even be bothered making a thread for this mysteriously Lesser Known (WT) Race.

Please stop this Jancouvering...

 

[RedheadDane]

Please stop this Jancouvering...

TDU at least had/has/will-be-having live coverage.
If TdP gets live coverage again, I'll be totally fine with it being a WT race.

However, it is possible I have been over-reacting. Here's the YouTube channel, and while the organisers haven't confirmed anything yet, it's reasonable to assume that they'll post the live coverage on there.

Tour de Pologne - YouTube

 

[yaco]

TDU at least had/has/will-be-having live coverage.
If TdP gets live coverage again, I'll be totally fine with it being a WT race.

However, it is possible I have been over-reacting. Here's the YouTube channel, and while the organisers haven't confirmed anything yet, it's reasonable to assume that they'll post the live coverage on there.

Tour de Pologne - YouTube

You've previously been informed that there will be TV coverage in Polish which is not ideal for a WT race BUT I'm used to watching races in foreign languages - Just finished watching Castilla Y Leon in Spanish.

 

[Lequack]

I always loved Tour of Poland, lots of small steep hills and nice scenery. Why no coverage?

 

[RedheadDane]

You've previously been informed that there will be TV coverage in Polish which is not ideal for a WT race BUT I'm used to watching races in foreign languages - Just finished watching Castilla Y Leon in Spanish.

I'm totally fine with watching races in foreign languages.
But remember the whole geo-restricted discussion from the General News Thread?

 

[SafeBet]

Cav two wins, Demare 1. Kwiatkowski to win his second GC here.

Kwiatkowski won't ride. He's still recovering from his crash while training.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Kwiatkowski won't ride. He's still recovering from his crash while training.

Well fiddlesticks.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Wait theres no coverage? I quite liked this race for some reason, I think mainly cause it was one of the only races between the two GTs.

 

[search]

main issue is not no (international) coverage, but no climbs. What happened to the good stages?

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Atrocious route, mediocre field and no international broadcast. With no Guangxi for three years running, surely this is now the most useless WT stage race?

You can add in the high frequency of serious injuries, which is the only thing I can remember about recent editions. Well, that and the balloons.

 

[RedheadDane]

Okay, so it turns out the FB page I thought was the relevant page - the one named "Tour de Pologne" - is not the one. Rather it's the one named "Tour de Pologne 2022". There is a link, but you have to create a log-in...

 

[Anderis]

main issue is not no (international) coverage, but no climbs. What happened to the good stages?

The race has to accomodate various cities and towns that pay for being a starting/finishing place to be financially sustainable but there are very few mountainous regions in Poland and most of them far away from populated areas so it's very difficult to put something together.

 

[Samamba]

Just looked at the parcours, wth is this lmao? So basically a false flat TT deciding who wins this.

Also weakest start list ever.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Tour de Pologne presented by SweetSpot and London Marathon.

 

[F_Cance]

i think the uci rules say that a WT race must be live in at least 10 countries + the host country. It's the second year in a row now and for some reason this race is still WT.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

I'm totally fine with watching races in foreign languages.
But remember the whole geo-restricted discussion from the General News Thread?

Does that mean some people on the forum can't read what we were saying?!

I randomly quite liked this race when I could watch it. Probably this, Wallonie and the Eneco Tour helped with post grand tour blues or something.

 

[RedheadDane]

Does that mean some people on the forum can't read what we were saying?!

The discussion about geo-restrictedness.

 

[yaco]

i think the uci rules say that a WT race must be live in at least 10 countries + the host country. It's the second year in a row now and for some reason this race is still WT.

I definitely watched this this race in 2021.