RAFAL MAJKA TO START AT THE TOUR DE POLOGNE – UCI WORLD TOUR
Rafal Majka will be another rider lining up for the start of the 74th Tour de Pologne – UCI World Tour, which will kick off from Krakow on Saturday, July 29th, for seven spectacular stages that will come to a conclusion in Bukowina Tatrzanska on Friday, August 4th.
Team Bora – Hansgrohe will be lining up a top tier formation for the Polish stage race. A few days ago the current World Champion, Peter Sagan, announced that he will be at the starting line; now he will be joined by Rafal Majka, another great champion who is obviously a national hero among Polish fans.
“Unfortunately, Rafal was very unlucky at the Tour de France and he had to withdraw from the race too soon due to injuries resulting from the fall he was caught up in on that difficult day in Chambery. We know that for his part he had already wanted to ride a great Tour de France to then try, if possible, to be ready and competitive here in Poland as well. It makes us and all the Polish fans and enthusiasts very happy to know that he has recovered from that fall and that he will definitely be on the starting grid for the Tour de Pologne. Kwiatkowski won’t be present this year, but he did stand out spectacularly in the Tour de France as he helped his team leader, Chris Froome, to win the yellow jersey for the fourth time; he and Majka are the icons of Polish cycling. It also means a lot to me to mention Bodnar, who was phenomenal when he won the Tour time trial in Marseilles. I would say that the Polish cycling movement continues to enjoy a golden moment. Getting back to Majka, the memory of what he has achieved in Poland is still vivid in the hearts and minds of everyone who loves cycling. He accomplished an extraordinary feat with his victory in the 2014 Tour de Pologne, where he took home the yellow jersey by winning the two most spectacular stages – all this after having won two stages and the polka dot jersey as best climber in the Tour de France. Considering this year’s route for the Tour de Pologne, with the two mountain stages in Zakopane and Bukowina Tatrzanska wrapping up the race, not to mention the never before seen climbing arrival in the 3rd stage at Szczyrk, I hope that in these days Majka can continue to do well in this period of recuperation and preparation, since he is aiming to have a good race and deliver lots of thrills to all the fans who come out,” says the General Director for the Tour de Pologne, Czeslaw Lang.
“I am very happy that I will participate in this year’s Tour de Pologne. This race means so much to me. I won here in 2014. Since then I hadn’t had the chance to ride in it again. So I am glad that this year I will have the opportunity to race in this event once more. After the crash that forced me to drop out of Tour de France, now I am back in training. I’m training at 100 percent; I feel good and strong. I do not want to make any declarations before the Tour de Pologne, but for sure I will fight in the mountain stages and give it everything I have. It is good that the route is even more difficult than the one in 2014. I will be happy to see Polish fans and I’m looking forward to their support,” says Rafal Majka.
The outline for this year’s Tour de Pologne is truly spectacular. We remind you that in addition to the duo of Peter Sagan and Rafal Majka from team Bora – Hansgrohe, there will also be the shark Vincenzo Nibali from Team Bahrain Merida, the only currently active rider who has managed to win all three major Tours in his career: Tour, Giro and Vuelta. These three names in and of themselves are enough to guarantee that 2017 will surely be a fantastic edition of the Tour de Pologne.