Tour of Poland 2019 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

August 07, 2019

Tour of Poland 2019 – Stage 5 – Kopalnia Soli Wieliczka – Bielsko-Biała : 154 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) won stage 5 of the Tour de Pologne with a powerful uphill sprint in Bielsko-Biala. The Slovenian held off a late surge from Eduard Prades (Movistar) to claim his second victory of the week and move up to second place overall, 4 seconds behind yellow jersey Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

It was a day that saw the Tour de Pologne peloton return to racing after paying a poignant tribute to the late Bjorg Lambrecht on the neutralised stage to Kocierz on Tuesday afternoon. Lambrecht’s Lotto Soudal team had felt that its riders should decide for themselves whether or not to continue in this Tour de Pologne, and all six opted to line up for the start at the Wieliczka Salt Mine, where the race resumed but the sense of mourning still lingered.

The day’s early break featured Lambrecht’s roommate from last year’s Vuelta a España, Jelle Wallays, and after that move was caught on the category 1 ascent of Przegibek, another Lotto Soudal man, Carl Fredrik Hagen broke clear of the peloton near the summit. He would be caught on the descent but the significance the Lotto Soudal riders’ impact on the day’s proceedings extended far beyond the results sheet.

That ascent of Przegibek served to whittle down the peloton and remove a number of the established sprinters, though it was notable that both the yellow jersey Ackermann and Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) managed to stay the course on the ascent.

Their teams proceeded to control the front end of the peloton on the finishing circuit around Bielsko-Biala, combining to close down a dangerous move featuring Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida), Simon Geschke (CCC) and Tsgabu Grmay (Mitchelton-Scott), which at one point established a buffer of half a minute.

Team Ineos hit the front en masse on the third and final 7km lap, with Vasil Kiryienka especially prominent, but their high pace did not entirely dissuade later attackers. The stage finished atop a 2km drag towards the line, and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) and Italian champion Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe) briefly threatened to upset the odds when they career clear with 1200 metres remaining.

They were eventually reeled in on the seemingly interminable finishing straight, where first Owain Doull and then Tao Geoghegan Hart provided a fine lead-out for Ben Swift. The British champion had Mezgec on his wheel, however, and, like everyone else, he was unable to match the ferocious acceleration of the Slovenian inside the final 130 metres.

Already a winner on the downhill sprint in Katowice on Sunday, Mezgec gave a further showcase of his current form by overpowering the opposition on the drag to the finish here. He has largely ridden in a supporting role during his tenure at Mitchelton-Scott but has enjoyed freedom and responsibility this week in Poland, where he has collected his first wins at WorldTour level since 2014.

Prades was the quickest rider over the last 50 metres, but the Spaniard had to come from a long, long way back and ran out of road before he could get close to Mezgec’s coattails. Swift had the consolation of holding on for third in a finish that saw an eclectic mix of riders dispute the spoils.

Petr Vakoc (Deceuninck-QuickStep) took 4th ahead of Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale), while Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) underscored his GC credentials by placing 6th. For now, however, the yellow jersey remains on the shoulders of his teammate Ackermann, who rode well to make the front group on such a finale, but understandably was unable to make an impact on the uphill drag to the line.

Ackermann carries a lead of 4 seconds over Mezgec and 16 on Swift into Thursday’s stage 6 to Zakopane, where the race’s incursion into the Tatras Mountains will utterly change the complexion of the general classification.

How it unfolded

If Tuesday’s neutralised homage to Bjorg Lambrecht was, to quote Leonard Cohen, a ritual response to an impossible event, then Wednesday’s stage had the feel of an attempt at returning to some semblance of normality in the wake of that unspeakable tragedy.

After a subdued start in Wieliczka, the day’s early break formed after 13km, when Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk), Kamil Gradek (CCC Team) and Szymon Rekita (Poland) forged clear, and they were joined shortly afterwards by Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal).

That quartet built up a maximum lead slightly in excess of three minutes as they crossed the day’s category 2 ascents of Rychwałd and Hucisko, where Gradek claimed enough points to ensure Planet – part of the break for the fourth time on this race – would lose his lead in the mountains classification.

Bora-Hansgrohe’s Maciej Bodnar kept tabs on the break’s lead through much of the afternoon, but it was Mitchelton-Scott who took up the reins on the category 1 ascent of Przegibek, with Grmay particularly prominent. His pace-making saw the peloton shed of a number of established sprinters and also ensured that the escapees were caught with 34km to go.

Carl Fredrik Hagen and Nikita Stalnov (Astana) clipped off the front near the summit, but they were never granted much freedom. As soon as they were recaptured, Mohoric swooped down the descent and opened a small gap over the peloton, which then extended when Geschke and Grmay managed to bridge across once the road flattened out.

The finale comprised three laps of 7km finishing circuit, where this trio had 30 seconds in hand on the bunch before they were reeled in. Team Ineos moved with purpose on the final lap, but on that interminable drag to the line, nobody could quite match Mezgec.

Results :
1 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 3:49:55
2 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
3 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
4 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
6 Rafa_ Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
8 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
9 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
10 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
11 Enrico Gasparatto (Ita) Dimension Data
12 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
13 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
14 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
15 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
16 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
17 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
19 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
20 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
21 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
22 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
23 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
24 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
25 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
26 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First
27 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
28 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
29 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
30 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
31 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
32 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
33 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
34 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
35 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
36 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
37 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
38 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
39 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
40 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
41 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
42 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
43 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First
44 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
45 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
46 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
47 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
48 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
49 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
50 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
51 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
52 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
53 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
54 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
55 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
56 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
57 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
58 Luis Villalobos (Mex) EF Education First
59 Pawe_ Bernas (Pol) CCC Team
60 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
61 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
62 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
63 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
64 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team
65 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
66 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Dimension Data
67 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
68 Szymon Rekita (Pol) Poland
69 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
70 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
71 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
72 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
73 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
74 Micha_ Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
75 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
76 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
77 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
78 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
79 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
80 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
81 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
82 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
83 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
84 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos
85 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
86 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
87 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First
88 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:02
89 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
90 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Poland
91 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
92 Pawe_ Cieslik (Pol) Poland
93 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
94 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:17
95 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
96 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:32
97 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates
98 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
99 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
100 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:48
101 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:54
102 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
103 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team
104 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Poland 0:03:02
105 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:33
106 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:38
107 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
108 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
109 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
110 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
111 Pawe_ Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgorghe 0:04:28
112 Sergey Shilov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:05:25
113 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:36
114 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:11
115 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
116 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:06:47
117 Fumiyaki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo) 0:07:27
118 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
119 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
120 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
121 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
122 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
123 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
124 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
125 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
126 Pawe_ Franczak (Pol) Poland
127 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Poland
128 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First
129 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First
130 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
131 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:08:22
132 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
133 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team 0:09:46
134 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
135 Mamyr Stash (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
136 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
137 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
138 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
139 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
140 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
141 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida
142 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:10:39
143 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
144 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
145 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
146 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Poland
147 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNS Gino Mäder (Swi) Dimension Data
DNF Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

General Classification after Stage 5 :
1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 18:06:30
2 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:04
3 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:16
4 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:18
5 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:20
6 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:22
7 Szymon Rekita (Pol) Poland
8 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:23
9 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:24
10 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
11 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
12 Enrico Gasparatto (Ita) Dimension Data
13 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
14 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
15 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
16 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
17 Rafa_ Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
18 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
19 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
20 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
22 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
23 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
24 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
25 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep
26 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
27 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
28 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
29 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First
30 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
31 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
32 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
33 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
34 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
35 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
36 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
37 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
38 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
39 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team
40 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
41 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
42 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
43 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
44 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
45 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
46 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
47 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
48 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
49 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
50 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
51 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
52 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
53 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
54 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
55 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
56 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
57 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
58 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
59 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
60 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First
61 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
62 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
63 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
64 Luis Villalobos (Mex) EF Education First
65 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
66 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team
67 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
68 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
69 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
70 Micha_ Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
71 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
72 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
73 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
74 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
75 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
76 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
77 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
78 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
79 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Dimension Data
80 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
81 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:30
82 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos 0:01:38
83 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
84 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:17
85 Pawe_ Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:02:19
86 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:26
87 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
88 Pawe_ Cieslik (Pol) Poland
89 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:41
90 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
91 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:44
92 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Poland 0:02:50
93 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:56
94 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
95 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
96 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:12
97 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:13
98 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:15
99 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:18
100 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal
101 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Poland 0:03:19
102 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:03:22
103 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:02
104 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team 0:04:06
105 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:35
106 Pawe_ Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgorghe 0:04:52
107 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:53
108 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:26
109 Sergey Shilov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:05:49
110 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First 0:05:59
111 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:00
112 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:31
113 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:06:55
114 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:07:05
115 Pawe_ Franczak (Pol) Poland 0:07:43
116 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:07:51
117 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Poland
118 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
119 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
120 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
121 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:08:46
122 Fumiyaki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo) 0:09:05
123 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
124 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:09:21
125 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:09:38
126 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:09:46
127 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First 0:10:05
128 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team 0:10:10
129 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
130 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:11:03
131 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First 0:11:04
132 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:11:06
133 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida 0:11:24
134 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
135 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
136 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:53
137 Mamyr Stash (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:12:11
138 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:12:22
139 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:12:29
140 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:13:48
141 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:14:04
142 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:14:15
143 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:14:29
144 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:15:35
145 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:16:00
146 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:16:26
147 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Poland 0:17:03