Tour of Poland (Tour de Pologne) August 12 to 18, 2024

[RedheadDane]

"Hmmm... some issues with live images. Less than 1 K to go. Should we swift to finish line cameras, or show the same pre-recorded loop over and over? Decisions... decisions..."

 

[Faserr]

smartphones

 

[Rob5091]

It must be those Russian hackers again ...

 

[RedheadDane]

They found the riders in the end, and Kooij won.

 

[Rob5091]

Back to the good old days when we got to see only the last 500m or so ...
Chapeau Kooij anyway & who had Bennett down for a podium spot?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I wish they had kept the camera on the guy on the balcony making bootleg copies of the finish, or at least I hope it was the race he was filming.

 

[yaco]

A convincing win by Kooij. Should be doing this at the Vuelta.

 

[Keldergoat]

A convincing win by Kooij. Should be doing this at the Vuelta.

In those, checks notes, *2* flat stages in the Vuelta? Muah, I completely get why sprinters are dodging the Vuelta like a bullet this year.

 

[joe_papp]

If Merlier gets positioned well I'll pick him any day of the week, otherwise I put my bet on Olav Kooij.

Wow. Bravo!

 

[yaco]

In those, checks notes, *2* flat stages in the Vuelta? Muah, I completely get why sprinters are dodging the Vuelta like a bullet this year.

You ride a GT to get the mileage in your legs. Kooij is a fouth year pro who has ridden exactly half of one GT in his career. Kooij can get over some hilly stuff and it is possible he could make the final of another two stages.

 

[Keldergoat]

But to ride a GT just to get the mileage in your legs he is at the wrong team. He knew when he extended his contract at Visma that the chances for a GT will always be more scarce than if he would've ridden for, let's say, EF.

 

[Keldergoat]

Wow. Bravo!

Thanks! But I mean, predicting a stagewin for Kooij on a perfectly flat sprinters stage isn't exactly the gamble of Victor Lafay winning the opening Tour de France stage.

 

[yaco]

But to ride a GT just to get the mileage in your legs he is at the wrong team. He knew when he extended his contract at Visma that the chances for a GT will always be more scarce than if he would've ridden for, let's say, EF.

I've already posted he made a bad career move. However, Visma could have taken him to more than one GT in 4 years.

 

[yaco]

Thanks! But I mean, predicting a stagewin for Kooij on a perfectly flat sprinters stage isn't exactly the gamble of Victor Lafay winning the opening Tour de France stage.

The context was it is harder to win a sprint stage at Poland, than at the Vuelta. Same as it was harder to win a sprint stage at the Giro, compared to the TDF.

 

[Keldergoat]

The context was it is harder to win a sprint stage at Poland, than at the Vuelta. Same as it was harder to win a sprint stage at the Giro, compared to the TDF.

Kooij already won stages in the last 3 editions in Poland. He can win stages in any race as I consider him one of the top-4 sprinters worldwide. Like I said, I count Merlier higher on a straight line sprint but Kooij his positioning is better and he climbs better. With the Vuelta's packed with medium mountain stages that are too hard for him I completely get it why they send him here.

 

[Rob5091]

Stage 5 and it's from Katowice to ... Katowice 187.6 km, start 12.30 CET, TV from 12.10 CET

2nd sprint win for Kooij or another sprinter has his day.

 

[yaco]

Kooij already won stages in the last 3 editions in Poland. He can win stages in any race as I consider him one of the top-4 sprinters worldwide. Like I said, I count Merlier higher on a straight line sprint but Kooij his positioning is better and he climbs better. With the Vuelta's packed with medium mountain stages that are too hard for him I completely get it why they send him here.

Vuelta stage wins are better for his development than a Poland stage win. It still does not answer the question. Why has he ridden half of one GT in four years as a pro.

 

[joe_papp]

Hmm. Michał Paluta was out of pro cycling for the past two years and only returned to Continental level for this season, but is leading KOM classification at his home tour. Cool.

 

[Keldergoat]

Vuelta stage wins are better for his development than a Poland stage win. It still does not answer the question. Why has he ridden half of one GT in four years as a pro.

Quite simple: because he's still only 22 and he's in a team with a very strong GC winning DNA. Arnaud de Lie has ridden the same amount of GC's and I think that's quite healthy for young riders.

 

[Rob5091]

Stage 5 and it's from Katowice to ... Katowice 187.6 km, start 12.30 CET, TV from 12.10 CET

2nd sprint win for Kooij or another sprinter has his day.

Stage 5 is the one where no one has a radio, and that would mean a break (if there is one) won't get far up the road.
Katowice is the scene of Fabio Jakobsen's horror crash in 2020, but there was talk of moving the finish and changing the barriers.
The run in, if I remember correctly was all downhill with a short uphill strech to the line. Today's finish is similar but with a sharp left turn at 700 m to go.

 

[tobydawq]

Stage 5 is the one where no one has a radio, and that would mean a break (if there is one) won't get far up the road.
Katowice is the scene of Fabio Jakobsen's horror crash in 2020, but there was talk of moving the finish and changing the barriers.
The run in, if I remember correctly was all downhill with a short uphill strech to the line. Today's finish is similar but with a sharp left turn at 700 m to go.

You don't remember correctly. It was an all-downhill sprint, no uphill to mitigate the speed. So it's not the same sprint at all if your profile there is true.

 

[Rob5091]

The profile is for today's stage finish, but I too thought the sprint in 2020 was all down hill but looking at the video again -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UrDC6jz1NY
I'm not so sure.

 

[search]

Today's finish is nearby the old one, but on a different road, and coming from a different direction:

(map from today. Blue line added, coming from north, is the old finishing road)

 

[search]

Did Banaszek just fake a mechanical after sitting up right after the intermediate sprint?!

 

[RedheadDane]

Pedersen crashed.