Tim Wellens best in the time trial in Karpacz! Jonas Vingegaard takes the leader’s jersey
The Tour de Pologne stopped in Karpacz, where the second stage also finished – an individual time trial starting in Mysłakowice. The best on the 15-kilometer route was Tim Wellens of UAE Team Emirates, with Jonas Vingegaard – now the new ORLEN general classification leader – taking second place.
Big stars battled today for victory in the individual time trial on the second stage of the 81st Tour de Pologne. The competition took place on a 15-kilometer route from Mysłakowice to the climb to Orlinek in Karpacz and favored time trial specialists who perform well in mountain rides.
“Individual time trials are a completely different competition from road racing. More and more often, in stage races, it is the individual time trial that decides the overall classification victory. Riders prepare for this competition in a completely different way. The same goes for the bikes, which have a full wheel known as a ‘disc,’ an aerodynamic water bottle, and a handlebar extension known as an ‘aero bar,’ which allows the cyclists to position themselves on the bike to have the least air resistance. The cyclists also compete in a special helmet and a one-piece suit that allows them to ride very fast while conserving energy at such high speeds. The warm-up is also crucial. The riders must be warmed up at the start because they need to exert maximum effort from the very beginning of the race,” said Tomasz Marczyński, a former professional cyclist, including with Lotto Soudal, and now a television expert.
After yesterday’s victory – also on Orlinek – he leader of the ORLEN general classification and the last rider to start was Thibau Nys from Lidl-Trek, but he had already said yesterday that it would be hard for him to compete with the best. In the first part of the time trial, the Poles showed themselves well, including national representative Kacper Gieryk and the current Polish elite champion Filip Maciejuk, racing with Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe. Both riders took the lead after their runs, but later others took over.
Experienced Romain Bardet from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL performed well but was overtaken by more than a minute by Tim Wellens, the Belgian champion from UAE Team Emirates, who already has a general classification victory in the race. Now, winning the jersey will be tough, as he suffered significant losses yesterday, but he took full advantage of today’s opportunity.
“This victory was different from my last one in Poland. I knew the time trial would be very important for the general classification, as I lost a lot of time yesterday. Today, I didn’t expect to win because there are many good riders here, including Jonas, but I’m very happy that I won,” said Tim Wellens.
The aforementioned Jonas Vingegaard, the main favorite of today’s time trial and the stage winner of the Tour de Pologne in 2019, finished second, just 9 seconds behind the winner. After the race, however, he was satisfied – he became the new leader of the ORLEN general classification, leading his teammate from Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Wilco Kelderman, by 24 seconds, who fell on one of the turns. “I wanted to win today’s stage, but Tim rode a very good time trial. I also did well, and I’m happy with the jersey. I hope today’s stage was crucial for the entire race. I was counting on doing well in the individual time trial and also on taking the ORLEN general classification leader’s jersey. I think the most challenging stages will be tomorrow’s and the sixth one. Of course, you also have to be very careful on the sprint stages so as not to lose time or have an accident,” said Jonas Vingegaard.
Diego Ulissi from UAE Team Emirates completes the podium of the GC and Felix Grossschartner, another rider from Rafał Majka’s team, took third place in today’s stage. The Pole finished in 37th place today, and in the general classification, he is 19th. The best-placed Pole today was Piotr Pękala, who took 25th place.
“I didn’t really know what to expect today because I hadn’t started in an individual time trial for a long time. But such a long, steady, and strong climb has always been my strength. Although I didn’t really know what I was capable of today, I tried to do my best. I may have started a little too cautiously, but when the climb began, I felt I was in my environment. The result is satisfactory, especially since the mechanics of the Polish national team were assembling my bike last night, and I wanted to thank them very much for that. I didn’t think at all that I could be the best of the Poles today. I just focused on my effort and tried to do my best to make up for yesterday’s stage, which was very tough for me,” said Piotr Pękala after today’s stage.
Tomorrow, the third stage of the 81st Tour de Pologne. The cyclists face a mountain challenge from Wałbrzych to Duszniki-Zdrój.