Tour de Pologne 2020 – the second wild card goes to Gazprom-RusVelo

Team Gazprom-RusVelo have been awarded the second wild card to participate in the 2020 Tour de Pologne. The team was formed under the Russian flag, but this year they are planning to expand internationally to further nurture and validate the movement on the world stage. It will be a tough challenge requiring perfect alchemy. The team’s second home is in Italy, at Lonato sul Garda, and the formation consists of young talents as well as more experienced riders, all ready and highly motivated to take on the new season. One of their major motivations is to participate in the Polish stage race.

“The Tour de Pologne was the first World Tour competition in which team Gazprom-Rusvelo ever participated,” remembers team manager Renat Khamidulin. “It was an unforgettably emotional experience that will forever be etched in my mind; this is why we’re thrilled to go back. The organization of the race is absolutely impeccable, right on par with the major tours, and getting better year after year. There are really plenty of good reasons to participate. The 2020 formation is decidedly more international than in the past; there are no longer exclusively Russian riders and staff, now we have lots of athletes who could achieve some excellent results. For the team this will be year zero.”

Czeslaw Lang explained how he was pleasantly surprised by the aptitude of the Gazprom-RusVelo athletes during the last edition of the Tour de Pologne. He was also impressed by the way in which Renat Khamidulin manages to build a sense of team unity, day after day.

“Gazprom-RusVelo team has been built with great commitment and consistency for years,” he said. “They will start in the Tour de Pologne UCI World Tour for the fifth time in a row. This is a very competitive team which has performed very well in our race in previous years. There’s a mix of young, talented cyclists and more experienced competitors, which can bring very good results. It also makes me happy that Gazprom-RusVelo riders use bikes by Ernesto Colnago, whom I’ve been great friends with for years.”