Intense start to the Tour de Pologne in Lower Silesia!

Just over a month remains until the start of the biggest cycling event in this part of Europe. The Tour de Pologne UCI World Tour will begin on August 12th and, as traditionally, will last for 7 days. The race will feature stars of world cycling, who along with the race will be promoting the beautiful Polish regions. This year, the competition will kick off in Lower Silesia!

In mid-August, Poland will become the capital of world cycling thanks to the Tour de Pologne. The only event in the region that is part of the UCI World Tour, the “cycling champions league,” will begin on August 12th at the Centennial Hall, where the team presentation will take place the day before. The opening stage of the 81st Tour de Pologne promises great excitement, thanks to the demanding route ending with the iconic climb to Orlinek in Karpacz. Last year, Slovenian Matej Mohorič from the Bahrain Victorious team triumphed there, and a few days later, he celebrated the overall victory in the entire race. Who will take the win in Karpacz this time?

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

On the second day, the peloton will stay around Karpacz, where the finish line will again be set – this time for a several-kilometer time trial. The race will start in Mysłakowice and finish at Orlinek. In the past, such time trials were won by the likes of Ondrej Sosenka and the famous Alberto Contador, a seven-time Grand Tour winner, who claimed his first professional victory precisely at Orlinek. Will another great cycling talent emerge here this time? It cannot be ruled out – previous editions of the Tour de Pologne have shown that this race is known for discovering future stars.

“We will stay in Karpacz, at Orlinek. The time trial will be on about a 15-kilometer route. We will start in Mysłakowice, not entering the center of Karpacz, but skirting around it. It will be a nice climb, a cronoscalata (Italian for ‘climb time trial’). We remember that Alberto Contador started his career here, winning such an individual time trial,” said Czesław Lang.

The next stage, this time a mass start, will also be challenging and should see competition among riders aiming for the ORLEN general classification victory. The climb-filled segment will start in Wałbrzych and head towards Duszniki-Zdrój. There, just like last year, the finish will be set. Last year, Rafał Majka triumphed there, beating Matej Mohorič and Michał Kwiatkowski in the final sprint.

“We are still in Lower Silesia – starting from Wałbrzych, and then many tough climbs. The finish will be at Jamrozowa Polana in Duszniki-Zdrój, where last year Rafał Majka won ahead of Michał Kwiatkowski. Before that, the riders will have to overcome very difficult climbs, totaling over 3000 meters of elevation gain. Among others, there will be Walim, Srebrna Góra, and practically all the climbs in the area,” described Czesław Lang.

The start of the 81st Tour de Pologne will be one of the toughest in recent years. Practically in each of the three stages in Lower Silesia, we can expect battles among the favorites, and the most significant shake-up in the ORLEN general classification will likely come from the selective time trial from Mysłakowice to Karpacz, where fans will have the opportunity to see every rider up close, competing in Poland’s greatest cycling race!