Tour of Poland 2019 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

August 04, 2019

Tour of Poland 2019 – Stage 2 – Tarnowskie Góry – Katowice : 153 km

The Tour de France has barely concluded but WorldTour stage racing returns with Eastern Europe’s biggest bike race, the Tour de Pologne, which gets under way in Krakow on Saturday. This year’s event could be even more unpredictable than usual. Tough uphill finishes and a field of racers who, for the most part, have not been in action since well before the Tour de France, combine to make the race a real blast of fresh summer air in comparison to more formulaic events.

Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) produced a powerful sprint on the downhill finishing straight in Katowice to claim victory on stage 2 of the Tour de Pologne ahead of Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates). Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) placed third to retain the yellow jersey of race leader.

The win was Mezgec’s first at WorldTour level since 2014, when he enjoyed a purple patch that yielded stage wins at the Volta a Catalunya, Tour of Beijing and on the final day of the Giro d’Italia in Trieste.

Mezgec has fulfilled a primarily supporting role since joining Mitchelton-Scott in 2016 but he proved in June that the muscle memory of his sprint days still remains when he claimed a stage win at the Tour of Slovenia.

The finale in Katowice is by now a staple of the Tour de Pologne and one of the most particular on the calendar. The final kilometre or so runs steadily downhill, meaning that many of the usual tenets of bunch sprinting can be ignored. Here, for instance, Mezgec found himself more than 15 riders back with 600 metres to go, but the high-speed run to the line gave an opportunity to move up later than might otherwise be possible.

After Bob Jungels (Deceuncink-QuickStep) swung off with 500 metres or so remaining, it was Trek-Segafredo who took up the reins in support of John Degenkolb, but the German was unable to find the space to make an impact in a rather claustrophobic sprint.

As was the case on Saturday in Krakow, Gaviria opened his sprint from distance, and Mezgec has the nous to follow the Colombian’s wheel. He also had the fortune to find an open gap while the door would shut firmly on others, most notably a frustrated Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who found himself boxed in with 200 metres remaining.

Mezgec had hit the front by that point and he proceeded to keep his mammoth gear turning over all the way to the line to claim a resounding victory. Gaviria, back in action for the first time since abandoning the Giro d’Italia with a knee injury, continued his encouraging comeback with second place, while a fast-closing Ackermann – winner here a year ago – had to settle for third place.

That was enough to keep Ackermann in the yellow jersey, two seconds ahead of Gaviria, while Mezgec moves up to third overall, four seconds behind the German.

Danny van Poppel (Jumbo-Visma) took 4th on the stage ahead of Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ), while Max Walscheid (Sunweb) came home in 6th. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) looked well placed on the run-in but was one of many riders who found themselves hemmed in on the finishing straight. Monday’s third stage to Zabrze should provide the fast men with another opportunity.

How it unfolded

Groundhog day on the Tour de Pologne. For the second successive stage, Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) was on the offensive for most of the day in the company of a rider from the Polish national team, on this occasion Pawel Franczak.

The longer stage meant that the break was granted a little more freedom early on, with Planet and Franczak quickly opening a lead of 6 minutes over the peloton. Much like on stage 1, Bora-Hansgrohe soon came to the front of the bunch and set about chipping away at that advantage, while, in time, Deceuninck-QuickStep and UAE Team Emirates put their shoulders to the wheel to help out.

The finale featured three laps of a 19km circuit and on reaching the finish line for the first time with 57km to go, the escapees had just a minute in hand on a peloton that was reluctant to reel them in at such an early juncture.

Instead, Planet and Franczak dangled off the front until after they had taken the bell, and after the Frenchman had hoovered up the point on offer atop the day’s second and final classified climb. As was the case on Saturday, a delegation from Ineos hit the front on the final lap, before Cesare Benedetti put in a fine cameo for Bora-Hansgrohe.

With 6km to go, the Italian’s strength was such that he even briefly drifted clear off the front, and he continued his pace-making duties even after he had been pegged back. Bob Jungels took over on the run-in and led beneath the flamme rouge before the breathless, downhill dash to the line, where Mezgec upset to odds to defy Gaviria and Ackermann.

Results :
1 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 3:32:42
2 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates
3 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
5 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
6 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
7 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
8 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
10 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
11 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
12 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
13 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
15 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
16 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
17 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
18 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
19 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
20 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
21 Enrico Gasparatto (Ita) Dimension Data
22 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
23 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
24 Sergey Shilov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
25 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
26 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
27 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
28 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
29 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team
30 Rafa_ Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
31 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
32 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
33 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
34 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
35 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
36 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
37 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
38 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
39 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
40 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
41 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
42 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
43 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
44 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
45 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
46 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
47 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
48 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
49 Pawe_ Bernas (Pol) CCC Team
50 _ukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
51 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
52 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
53 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
54 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
55 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
57 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
58 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
59 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
60 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
61 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
62 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
63 Pawe_ Franczak (Pol) Poland
64 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Poland
65 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
66 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
67 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First
68 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
69 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
70 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
71 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
72 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
73 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
74 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
75 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
76 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
77 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Poland
78 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
79 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
80 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
81 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
82 Micha_ Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
83 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
84 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
85 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
86 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
87 Luis Villalobos (Mex) EF Education First
88 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
89 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
90 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
91 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
92 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
93 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
94 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
95 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team
96 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
97 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
98 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
99 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
100 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
101 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
102 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
103 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
104 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
105 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
106 Alexander Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
107 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
108 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
109 Pawe_ Cieslik (Pol) Poland
110 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
111 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
112 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
113 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
114 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
115 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Dimension Data
116 Szymon Rekita (Pol) Poland
117 Pawe_ Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgorghe
118 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
119 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
120 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
121 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Poland 0:00:24
122 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First 0:00:28
123 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:56
124 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
125 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:06
126 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
127 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
128 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
129 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:14
130 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
131 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos
132 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
133 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
134 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
135 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
136 Fumiyaki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo)
137 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
138 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida
139 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First 0:01:36
140 Mamyr Stash (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:02:01
141 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Poland
142 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:09
143 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First
144 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:02:34
145 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:03
146 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:12
147 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:24
148 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:03:34
149 Gino Mader (Sui) Team Dimension Data 0:03:42
150 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:47
151 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team 0:03:54

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 6:30:26
2 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:00:01
3 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:02
4 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:04
5 Pawel Franczak (Pol) Poland 0:00:06
6 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Poland 0:00:07
7 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:10
8 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:12
9 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:13
11 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:14
12 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
13 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
14 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
16 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
18 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
19 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
20 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
21 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
22 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
23 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
24 Enrico Gasparatto (Ita) Dimension Data
25 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
26 Sergey Shilov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
27 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
28 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
29 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
30 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
31 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
32 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
33 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
34 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
35 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
36 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
37 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
38 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
39 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
40 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First
41 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
42 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
43 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
44 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
45 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
46 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
47 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
48 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
49 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
50 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
51 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
52 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
53 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Poland
54 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
55 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
56 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
57 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
58 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
59 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
60 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
61 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
62 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
63 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
64 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
65 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
66 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
67 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
68 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
69 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
70 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
71 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
72 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
73 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
74 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
75 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
76 Luis Villalobos (Mex) EF Education First
77 Alexander Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
78 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
79 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
80 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team
81 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
82 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
83 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
84 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
85 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
86 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
87 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
88 Szymon Rekita (Pol) Poland
89 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
90 Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgorghe
91 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
92 Pawel Cieslik (Pol) Poland
93 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
94 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
95 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
96 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
97 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
98 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
99 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
100 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First
101 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
102 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
103 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
104 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
105 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
106 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
107 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
108 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
109 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
110 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
111 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
112 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Dimension Data
113 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
114 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
115 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Poland 0:00:38
116 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team 0:01:03
117 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:05
118 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team
119 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:10
120 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
121 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:20
122 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
123 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos 0:01:28
124 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
125 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida
126 Fumiyaki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo)
127 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
128 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
129 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
130 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
131 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
132 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:01
133 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:07
134 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Poland 0:02:12
135 Mamyr Stash (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:02:15
136 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:16
137 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First 0:02:41
138 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First 0:03:03
139 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:05
140 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:07
141 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:03:26
142 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:03:38
143 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:03:52
144 Gino Mäder (Swi) Dimension Data 0:03:56
145 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:08
146 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:04:13
147 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:04:19
148 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:04:33
149 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:05:14
150 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First 0:05:16
151 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:06:19