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Tour of Poland stage 7: Matej Mohorič hangs tough for GC victory after bonus points battle

Tim merlier wins final stage for second victory of the tour as mohorič beats back gc rival joão almeida in tense final day of racing..

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Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) nabbed the bonuses he needed on Friday’s final stage to ensure he beat João Almeida (UAE Emirates) to the overall at the Tour of Poland .

Mohorič won the GC at the Polish tour by just one second after a tense final stage into Kraków that saw the GC battle come down to bonus points.

Also read: Mohorič poised to win Tour of Poland by 74 hundredths of a second

Victory this week is the second time Mohorič secured stage-race victory based on primes . He pulled a similar feat last year when he usurped Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard to win the CRO Race on final-stage time bonuses.

Friday’s stage sees Mohorič close the curtain on a stellar opening phase of his summer. The 28-year-old won a stage at the Tour de France last month and backed it up with stage 2 victory and the overall this week in Poland.

Mohorič opted out of representing Slovenia at road worlds and will now take a break before he races the Benelux Tour at the end of August.

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) won the bunch sprint Friday to deliver Quick-Step its third victory of the seven-day race, and the Belgian speedster his second of the week.

🇵🇱 #TDP2023 🏆 @matmohoric did it! 🟡 He saved the GC leader jersey on the final stage @Tour_de_Pologne and took the overall ranking! #RideAsOne #rideforGino 📸 @SprintCycling pic.twitter.com/gZ12NBWm6L — Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) August 4, 2023

Friday’s 167km flat stage between Zabrze and Krakow saw a duel between Bahrain-Victorious and UAE Emirates as they vied to secure their leaders some crucial bonus points.

Mohorič and Almeida had started the stage separated by just fractions of a second, making the primes available at Friday’s two intermediate sprints and at the finish line potential race-winners.

Mohorič said after the stage Thursday he was confident he could outkick Almeida in the intermediates and proved himself right Friday.

The Bahrain-Victorious leader burst out of the bunch ahead of Almeida at the 65km sprint point to win a three-second advantage over his rival’s two, leaving him just one second ahead overall.

🇵🇱Wyniki Premii Lotnej LOTTO Wilamowice: 🇬🇧Results of the Intermediate Sprint LOTTO Wilamowice: 1. MOHORIČ Matej (TBV) 2. ALMEIDA João (UAD) 3. PASQUALON Andrea (TBV) @totalizator_sp 📷 @gruchaseven pic.twitter.com/OTsKOIheKe — Tour de Pologne (@Tour_de_Pologne) August 4, 2023

The day’s three-rider breakaway hoovered the prizes available at the 145km intermediate, leaving it all down to whether Almeida could serve a surprise GC coup at the finish line.

The day’s break was all scooped up inside the final 20km and Bahrain-Victorious mobbed to the front to protect Mohorič and prevent Almeida from moving.

A crash at 8km to go caused a ripple of confusion, and GC contender Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) and UAE sprinter Pascal Ackermann were among the seven that came down.

The confusion wasn’t enough to prevent the predicted sprint finish however, and Merlier zipped to the line ahead of Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) for his second stage win of the Tour.

Almeida and Mohorič came to the line together, leaving the GC standings separated by just one second after more than 26 hours of racing.

Kwiatkowski was able to get back into the bunch before the 3km GC “safe zone” and finished on time with Almeida and Mohorič to protect third-place overall at his home Tour.

Almeida finished up second on GC for his third stage race podium of 2023. The rising Portuguese GC power also placed third at the recent Giro d’Italia.

Stage 6: Matej Mohorič clings to lead as Mattia Cattaneo powers to TT win

Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step) powered to victory in Thursday’s decisive time trial at the Tour of Poland.

The Italian blazed across all the time checks in first, and fended off some of the GC players to win for the first time in 2023.

Joâo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) crossed the line second fastest, but that wasn’t enough to nudge him into the overall leader’s jersey in the 16.6km test against the clock.

“I am happy with my performance. It is always nice to win, but when you beat such a great field of riders it tastes even better,” Cattaneo said. “I’m over the moon. I’m working hard on these disciplines that I love.

“Thanks to this performance I’m now fifth in the GC. Unfortunately I lost 40 seconds on the first day. I’m getting older and it always takes a bit of time to get into the rhythm of the race, but I’m not complaining,” he said. “Today I’m happy to celebrate this victory. Now I am going to the world championships to compete in the ITT. I know my place in the peloton, so a top 10 would be a great result. I will give everything as usual and see what the result will be in the end.”

Overnight leader Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) was 12 seconds slower than the Portuguese rider, but was just fast enough to retain the lead even though they are both now tied on time, with the Slovenian a fraction of a second faster.

“I had really good legs today, maybe I held back too much in the first part of the time trial. I should have pushed more. I made the same mistake in 2021 when I was fighting with Joâo for the overall,” he said. “In the second part, which was the hardest, I did my best and it was enough to retain the jersey. Now we have the same time, so tomorrow I have to make sure that he doesn’t get a bonus or that I get more than him.”

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) was third fastest on the day, with Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) riding to 10th. That bounced the Arizonan into sixth overall.

Stage 5: Reduced bunch sprint marred by crashes in finale

Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) dashed to victory Wednesday  at the Tour of Poland at the end of a hectic stage that saw a TV motorcycle crash into fans with less than 5km to go.

Four people were transported to a local hospital, but none with serious injuries, officials said.

Riders saw the crash, and overnight leader Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) said it distracted him from contesting for the win.

The front bunch slowed after the motorcycle incident, and there was discussion of neutralizing the stage. The speed kicked up again with about 2km to go as the bunch agreed to make the sprint, which provoked another pileup in the bunch.

The Dutch speedster out-paced Mohorič in the incident-marred finale. Joâo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) crossed the line third as the GC favorites surged to the front in the climb-heavy stage.

“Yesterday went already pretty good, and I knew that today was going to be pretty hard,” Van den Berg said. “If I could survive the climbs, probably a lot of sprinters would be gone, so I would have a bigger chance, so I fought for it today, and in the end my sprint was good.”

Mohorič widened his lead to Almeida to 12 seconds, with Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), fourth on the stage, retaining the third podium spot at 18 seconds back.

“In normal conditions I should do well tomorrow in the TT,” Almeida said. “Let’s see if I can take some time on Mohorič. I’ll try and do my best and bring my best legs. It’s going to be quite explosive as it’s short with plenty of corners so it’s going to be a tough one.”

Stage 4: Olav Kooij speeds to sprint win, Matej Mohorič retains GC lead

Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) outkicked Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and Matteo Moschetti (Q36.5) for sprint victory on stage 4 of the Tour of Poland.

The top of GC remains unchanged after a mostly uneventful stage Tuesday.

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) retains the overall lead, with UAE Emirates teammates João Almeida and Rafal Majka poised just 10 seconds back.

The hill-packed 5th stage Wednesday could see the classification reshuffle significantly, however.

OLAV KOOJI! 🔥 @JumboVismaRoad pic.twitter.com/S0CI3I1Wrd — Tour de Pologne (@Tour_de_Pologne) August 1, 2023

Stage 4 into Opole made for a template sprinter stage Tuesday.

Four riders made their move early in the day before Jumbo-Visma and Soudal Quick-Step monitored the gap for fast-finishers Kooij and Tim Merlier.

The last escapee, Patryk Stosz, was reeled in at 25km to go and Ineos Grenadiers took control, with Geraint Thomas doing a bunch of pulling to help protect his GC contender teammate Michal Kwiatkowski.

The bunch all zipped into the final showdown in Opole as one, and Jumbo-Visma mobbed to the front to deliver Kooij to an impressive seventh victory for the season.

Stage 3: Rafal Majka wins on home roads

Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates) kicked to victory in the third stage at the Tour of Poland.

The Polish rider edged overnight leader Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) and compatriot Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) to win the stage.

On a day which packed over 3000m of elevation, Majka stuck with the main group of favorites on the final climb on the day from Wałbrzych to Duszniki-Zdrój (162.3km).

“I’m so happy because I won the stage. Yesterday I missed 200 meters in the finish but today I found the extra push to make the difference and take the win,” Majka said. “We are here for GC for Joao Almeida but I also had the target of going for a stage win if the opportunity came up. Today it worked out perfectly and I’m very happy for all my team.”

With his first win of the season, Majka bounces into second overall, with Mohorič leading by 10 seconds heading into stage 4 from Strzelin to Opole (199.1km).

Stage 2: Matej Mohorič outsprints João Almeida for hilltop victory

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) outsprinted João Almeida (UAE Emirates) for the stage win and leader’s jersey on stage 2 of the Tour of Poland .

Time bonuses at the line put Mohorič four seconds ahead of Almeida on GC ahead of a series of three hilly / sprint stages to come.

Sunday’s mountaintop victory was Mohorič’s second win in just five race days after he claimed sensational victory in Poligny earlier this month on stage 19 of the Tour de France.

MATEJ MOHORIČ! @BHRVictorious pic.twitter.com/0d7KC39mrq — Tour de Pologne (@Tour_de_Pologne) July 30, 2023

The climb to the line in Karpacz dominated the stage Sunday.

At 11km long and with a series of 14+ percent ramps in the final 3km, the difficulty of the summit finish meant the GC teams cooled their jets through the opening of the 200km trek toward the southern border.

Three riders were let go early and given a sizeable gap but were inevitably all gobbled up by the bunch in the hill-packed final 30km of the stage.

Jayco-AlUla, UAE Emirates, and Ineos Grenadiers piled on in the base of the Karpacz climb as the GC contenders tussled for position.

Rafal Majka (UAE Emirates) attacked first, around 3km from the finish, and was soon joined out front by Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny).

However, a flurry of moves came out of the chase group and Majka and Van Eetvelt were reeled back within sight of the line, leaving Mojorič to outkick Almeida for victory.

Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) came in shortly afterward for third place.

Stage 1: Tim Merlier bosses big bunch sprint in Poznań

Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) won the opening stage and secured the first leader’s jersey of the Tour of Poland.

The Belgian speedster outsprinted Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) after a hectic final of Saturday’s stage into Poznań.

A series of crashes on rain-slicked roads in the final 10km saw a handful of riders come down, but all the main sprinters got through safely before the Quick-Step train delivered Merlier to his seventh win of the season.

🇵🇱 MERLIER Tim (Soudal-Quick Step) WYGRYWA 1. ETAP TOUR DE POLOGNE! 💪🏼🔥🚴🏼🎉 🇬🇧 MERLIER Tim (Soudal-Quick Step) WINS STAGE 1 OF THE TOUR DE POLOGNE!💪🏼 🔥🚴🏼🎉 📸 @gruchaseven pic.twitter.com/wBudMGTMaD — Tour de Pologne (@Tour_de_Pologne) July 29, 2023

The pan-flat stage into Poznań played largely per the script Saturday.

A break of four went away in the opening kilometers and was given a slim gap before they were reeled in by the sprinter teams surprisingly early, some 55km from the line.

Rain poured through the final hour of the race, perhaps putting a stopper on attacks as the complete peloton rolled toward the final sprint.

Crashes disrupted the extra high-speed finale into Poznań – but there was no stopping Merlier, who didn’t make the Belgian selection for road worlds.

The Polish tour resumes Sunday, where a tough hilltop finish in Karpacz could see the main GC shake-up of the race.

Pre-race contenders like Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), João Almeida (UAE Emirates), and Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) will be looking for early gains Sunday ahead of the series of hilly / sprinter stages that fall before the Tour’s second GC day, the stage 6 time trial.

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Tour de Pologne - Course en ligne Hommes - Étape 7

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Classement général

Étape précédente, etape actuelle, dernières infos, le général pour vingegaard, l'étape pour kooij : la totale pour la visma.

18/08/2024 à 18:07

Nys triple la mise, Vingegaard aperçoit la victoire

17/08/2024 à 18:01

EN DIRECT : Wieliczka - Cracovie

Tour de Pologne - 18 août 2024

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• As it happened: Breakaway win on stage 13 as Roglič reclaims time on O'Connor

Tour de Pologne: Thibau Nys doubles up with another hilltop victory on stage 3

Jonas Vingegaard retains yellow jersey after cameo on climb to Karłów

Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) claimed his second victory in three days on the Tour de Pologne after he delivered another perfectly pitched sprint on the uphill finale at Duszniki-Zdrój. The Belgian timed his effort smartly, coming past Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) within sight of the line to take the spoils.

Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) came home in third place on the stage ahead of Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos).

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) retains the overall lead after he placed 9th on the day, three seconds behind Nys. The Dane was prominent in the finale when he cut the peloton in size with an acceleration on the second of two ascents of Karłów.

Thanks to the time bonus for second place, Ulissi moves up to second overall, 16 seconds behind Vingegaard, while Kelderman lies third at 18 seconds.

The stage took in no fewer than five category 2 ascents ahead of the short, sharp kick to the finish, and the day was animated by a ten-man move that took shape in two parts. Michal Paluta (Poland), Jan Maas (Jayco-Alula) and Nicolas Debeaumarché (Cofidis) went up the road early on before they were joined by Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Samuel Watson (Groupama-FDJ), Ben Turner (Ineos), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Mick van Dijke (Visma-Lease a Bike), Hugo Houle (Israel Premier Tech) and Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep) ahead of the first ascent of Karłów.

A crash later took Reinderink and Debeaumarché out of the break and despite Bilbao’s attempts to press on over the top of the climb, the peloton began to close in steadily on the escapees as they came around for their second lap over the ascent of Karłów, with EF Education-EasyPost and DSM-Firmenich-PostNL to the fore.

The escapees were reeled in on the ascent with a shade under 20km to go. Shortly afterwards, Vingegaard himself came to the front, and his steady but sustained acceleration set the terms of engagement for the remainder of the stage. His effort helped to whittle down the peloton, while further accelerations from Archie Ryan and Jakob Fulgsang ensured the dropped riders would struggle to make their way back on.

From there, it was clear that the stage would be decided on the 800m-long kick to the finish in Duszniki-Zdrój, and Lidl-Trek set out their intentions by setting the tempo on the approach to the climb, with Mads Pedersen putting in a mammoth turn on the front.

Bahrain Victorious took up the reins beneath the flamme rouge, and they still led as the race swung onto the narrow road that led towards the finish line. As the gradient began to bite, Ulissi, Ryan and Kelderman moved towards the front, surely reasoning that it would be difficult to move up on a narrow road like this one.

Ulissi is an expert in scenarios such as this. After leading on the steepest ramps of the climb, he opened his effort in earnest as the road began to flatten out with 200m to go. He led into the final bends, but Nys – already so impressive in victory on stage 1 – had moved into position. The Belgian bided his time before unleashing a crisp sprint, and he came around Ulissi in the final 50m to claim the eighth victory of a fine season.

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Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation , published by Gill Books.

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12.08.2024 Stage 1 – WROCŁAW – KARPACZ – 156,1 km

• Stage 1 Wrocław Karpacz
• Stage 2 MYSŁAKOWICE KARPACZ
• Stage 3 WAŁBRZYCH DUSZNIKI-ZDRÓJ, COS
• Stage 4 KUDOWA-ZDRÓJ PRUDNIK
• Stage 5 KATOWICE KATOWICE
• Stage 6 WADOWICE BUKOVINA RESORT
• Stage 7 KOPALNIA SOLI „WIELICZKA” KRAKÓW

The 81st edition of the Tour de Pologne will start with a demanding stage from Wrocław to Karpacz on August 12. Riders will set off from the famous Centennial Hall, which will host the presentation of all teams and riders the day before. After a ceremonial section on the roads of Wrocław, the competitors will begin the proper race.

The first part of the stage, measuring just under 160 kilometers, will be flat, but that doesn’t mean it will lack excitement. Riders will compete for the LOTTO sprint bonus in Sobótka, and then – as the terrain begins to rise – for the PZU III category KOM, located at Tąpadła Pass.

Heading towards Karpacz, cyclists will pass through the special Soudal bonus in Świdnica, the LOTTO sprint bonus in Czarny Bór, the PZU II category KOM at Kowarska Pass, and the special Lake Hill bonus in Karpacz. The pace will be very high there, as riders will climb the iconic Orlinek, where Tour de Pologne stages have often ended. Last year, Slovenian Matej Mohorič from the Bahrain Victorious team triumphed there and went on to win the overall classification of the entire race.

The tough finish should provide fans with a lot of excitement and lead to the first selection in the fight for the yellow jersey of the ORLEN general classification leader.

“I am very pleased that Wrocław is on the race route, especially since it is a cycling city. Many cyclists come from here, there was the Dolmel club, where Ryszard Szurkowski, Henryk Charucki, Jan Faltyn, and Jan Brzeźny rode – many champions. The presentation will take place at the Centennial Hall, and the start will be there the next day. After 9 kilometers on the streets of Wrocław, the first stage will begin. The finish will be on the well-known Orlinek climb in Karpacz. The first stage will already impact the general classification,” described the first stage Czesław Lang, General Director of the Tour de Pologne.

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Cyclisme : le récit de la rééducation express de Nicolas Debeaumarché après sa chute sur le Tour de Pologne

Le coureur de 26 ans de l’équipe Cofidis s’est fracturé sept vertèbres après une chute en descente sur le Tour de Pologne. Et il affirme n’avoir aucune séquelle deux semaines plus tard. De quoi commencer sa rééducation avec optimisme.

Une telle transparence face à une blessure est plutôt rare. Dans un récit publié sur le site de son équipe Cofidis , le coureur Nicolas Debeaumarché a raconté son calvaire après une chute sur le Tour de Pologne le 14 août. Tombé lors d’une descente dans un fossé avec un muret en béton, le coureur de 26 ans est immédiatement hospitalisé. Le diagnostic est très lourd : sept de ses vertèbres sont cassés. « Au départ, on m’a dit qu’avec mes blessures, dans 50 % des cas on en décède et dans 90 % on devient paralysé », rejoue-t-il moins de deux semaines plus tard.

Rapatrié en France trois jours plus tard, il est immédiatement transféré à la Pitié Salpêtrière. Où le calvaire ne s’arrête pas : en plus de ses fractures aux vertèbres, de nouveaux examens révèlent d’autres fractures aux cervicales. Opéré durant cinq heures le 18 août, il est immobilisé et doit porter un corset et une minerve.

« Aujourd’hui, tous mes membres sont fonctionnels »

Nicolas Debeaumarché passe trois jours en soins intensifs, avant d’entamer une longue phase de convalescence pour, explique-t-il, retrouver son autonomie. « Il a fallu marcher à nouveau, monter des marches, manger seul, prendre une douche… Heureusement, les progrès ont été énormes de jour en jour », indique le coureur, qui n’oublie pas de mentionner l’importance de son entourage et du chirurgien dans son combat. Jusqu’à la libération, le 27 août, lorsqu’un dernier scanner de contrôle révèle « de très bonnes nouvelles ».

« Je n’ai jamais été aussi content de rentrer chez moi », jubile-t-il alors. La fin du calvaire, et le début d’une longue période de rééducation. « Aujourd’hui, tous mes membres sont fonctionnels, je n’ai pas de séquelle. C’est un signe et je vais me battre », affirme le Français. Avec un objectif très clair : « Absolument remonter sur un vélo ». « Je veux faire des courses, je veux être apte pour reprendre la compétition, retrouver mon meilleur niveau, réussir à être performant », espère-t-il.