Tour of Poland 2018 – Stage 2 [LAST 20 KM]

August 5, 2018

Tour of Poland 2018 – Stage 2 – Tarnowskie Góry – Katowice : 156 km

Following on the Tour de France, the Tour de Pologne is the next stop on the UCI WorldTour, with a punchy seven-stage race that is often decided by seconds. Last year, it was BMC’s Dylan Teuns who claimed the victory, and the Belgian will be back to try and defend his title. Other contenders include Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin), Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) and Bora-Hansgrohe’s Pascal Ackermann. Polish riders Michal Golas, Lukasz Wisniowski and national champion Michal Kwiatkowski feature in Team Sky’s squad.

Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) confirmed his status as the 2018 Tour de Pologne’s top sprinter as he weaved his way through the peloton to a second victory in 24 hours, simultaneously strengthening his overall lead.

On Saturday Ackermann was wearing his German National Champion’s jersey as he powered across the line in Krakow, his arms aloft, and on Sunday as he punched the air again, Ackermann was clad in the yellow of race leader. But as the Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter once again left Colombian fast man Alvaro Hodeg (Quick-Step Floors) trailing in second place, the end result was very much the same.

How Ackermann reached the top spot on the winner’s podium, though, was markedly different as on the fast downhill sprint into Katowice city centre. Rather than surprise the field with a long sprint like in Krakow, on stage 2 the young German weaved his way across the field from left to right, blasting past a knot of late breakaways from the Polish National Team as he did so.

With Hodeg glued to his back wheel, Ackermann finally stormed back to the centre of the road to cross the line for the victory. Ackermann said afterwards his manoeuvre had been “risky,” but it did not earn the German any penalties and the result stood.

“It was risky because I was going too fast in the end to find a perfect line and then I had to go to the right side,” Ackermann said. “It was critical but it was OK, I think.”

Running once again through the rolling southern Polish countryside, an opening lap of 32 kilometres through the start town of Tarnowskie Gory was cancelled after the riders were misdirected by an official at one point on the circuit. As a result, the race approached the finish town of Katowice unduly early and to compensate, the decision was taken mid-stage to add on another 20-kilometre finishing lap around the city to the three initially planned.

The slightly shorter overall stage length and early confusion made little to no difference to the final outcome. An early break of three riders, all from non-World Tour teams – Kamil Gradek (CCC Polsat), Evgeny Shaluno (Gazprom Rusvelo) and Adam Stachoviak (Representacja Polska) – broke away early on, gained around three minutes, and then attempted the near-impossible: fending off the peloton, led for much of the day by the seemingly tireless Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe).

On the last lap, Team Sky ended Benedetti’s lengthy spell on the front, instantly putting the trio’s lead below 30 seconds, and the break visibly took the decision to let the peloton reel them in. Former Pologne points winner Alberto Bettiol (BMC Racing Team) then tried, unsuccessfully, to use a technical section and some urban pave of the circuit to go clear, with Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) amongst the favourites keeping a close eye on affairs at the front.

The crunch moment of the stage came just over a kilometre from the line, as the peloton crowned a big roundabout at the summit of a long, draggy uphill, with two members of the Polish National Team riders, Michal Podlaski and Karel Domolgaski impressively managing to swing around the uppermost corner at high speed and subsequently go clear.

The duo’s manoeuvre visibly put them at a narrow advantage and ahead of the field as the finish line approached, with another team-mate bridging across to bolster their challenge. But Ackermann’s stunning late acceleration put the German past the trio of late breakaways and firmly back in control of affairs – and on track for a second win.

Results :
1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:16:39
2 Alvaro Hodeg (Col) Quick-Step Floors
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
4 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
5 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
6 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
9 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Kamil Zielinski (Pol) Poland
11 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
12 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
13 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
14 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
15 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Lotto Soudal
16 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Floors
17 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
18 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
19 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
20 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
21 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
22 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
23 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
24 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
25 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
26 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
27 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team
28 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
29 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
30 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
31 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
32 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
33 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
34 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Poland
35 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Poland
36 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
37 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
38 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
39 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
40 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
41 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
42 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
43 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
44 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
45 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
46 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
47 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo
48 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
49 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
50 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
51 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ
52 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida
53 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
54 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
55 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
56 Pawel Cieslik (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
57 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
58 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
59 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
60 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
61 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
62 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
63 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
64 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
65 Nuno Bico (Por) Movistar Team
66 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
67 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing Team
68 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
69 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
70 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
71 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
72 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
73 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
74 Daniel Moreno (Spa) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
75 Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
76 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
77 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
78 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
79 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
80 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
81 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
82 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
83 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Mitchelton-Scott
84 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
85 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
86 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
87 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
88 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
89 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Poland
90 Lars Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal
91 Michal Podlaski (Pol) Poland
92 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
93 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
94 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
95 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
96 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
97 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
98 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
99 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
100 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
101 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
102 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
103 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
104 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
105 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
106 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
107 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
108 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
109 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
110 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
111 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
112 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) BMC Racing Team
113 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
114 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
115 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
116 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
117 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
118 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
119 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
120 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
121 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
122 Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
123 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
124 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky
125 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
126 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
127 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
128 Karol Domagalski (Pol) Poland
129 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
130 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
131 Kim Magnusson (Swe) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
132 Sergey Shilov (Pol) Poland
133 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
134 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
135 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:27
136 Pawel Franczak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:00:54
137 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
138 Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo
139 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
140 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
141 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
142 Alexander Foliforov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
143 Julian Cardona Tabares (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:12
144 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
145 Adam Stachowiak (Pol) Poland 0:01:21
146 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:58
147 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:02:05
148 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:04:35
149 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
150 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
151 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
152 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:07:09
153 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
154 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 6:15:30
2 Alvaro Hodeg (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:08
3 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:11
4 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:16
5 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
6 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:17
8 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:00:18
9 Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:19
10 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:20
11 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
12 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Danny van Poppel (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
14 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
15 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
16 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
17 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
18 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
19 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
20 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Poland
21 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
22 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team
23 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
24 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
25 Kamil Zielinski (Pol) Poland
26 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
27 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
28 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
29 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
30 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
31 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
32 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
33 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
34 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
35 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing Team
36 Pawel Cieslik (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
37 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ
38 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
39 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
40 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
41 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
42 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
43 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
44 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
45 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Floors
46 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
47 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
48 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
49 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
50 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
51 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
52 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
53 Nuno Bico (Por) Movistar Team
54 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
55 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
56 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
57 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
58 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
59 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida
60 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
61 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Poland
62 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
63 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
64 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
65 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo
66 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
67 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
68 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
69 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
70 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
71 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
72 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
73 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
74 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky
75 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
76 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
77 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
78 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Mitchelton-Scott
79 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
80 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
81 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
82 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Poland
83 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
84 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
85 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
86 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
87 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
88 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
89 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
90 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
91 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
92 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
93 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
94 Daniel Moreno (Spa) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
95 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team
96 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
97 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
98 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
99 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
100 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
101 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
102 Michal Podlaski (Pol) Poland
103 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
104 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
105 Lars Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal
106 Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
107 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
108 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
109 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo
110 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
111 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
112 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
113 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
114 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
115 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) BMC Racing Team
116 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
117 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
118 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
119 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
120 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
121 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team
122 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
123 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
124 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
125 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
126 Sergey Shilov (Pol) Poland
127 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
128 Karol Domagalski (Pol) Poland
129 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
130 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Lotto Soudal 0:00:46
131 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
132 Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:06
133 Pawel Franczak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:01:14
134 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
135 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
136 Adam Stachowiak (Pol) Poland 0:01:41
137 Alexander Foliforov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:01:55
138 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:00
139 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:20
140 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:02:25
141 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:43
142 Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:03:21
143 Alex Frame (NZl) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:44
144 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:04:50
145 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:55
146 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
147 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:05:23
148 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:06:56
149 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 0:07:29
150 Julian Cardona Tabares (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:07:41
151 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
152 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:10:09
153 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:13:23
154 Kim Magnusson (Swe) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:16:08