Tour of Poland 2020 – Stage 2 [LAST 15 KM]

August 6, 2020

Tour of Poland 2020 – Stage 2 – Opole – Zabrze : 151,5 km

The 2020 Tour de Pologne will pit the likes of on-song Deceuninck-QuickStep star Remco Evenepoel, Wout Poels (Bahrain McLaren), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and 2019 Giro d’Italia champion Richard Carapaz (Team Ineos) against each other, with two mountain stages expected to decide the overall winner of the Polish five-day race, which starts in Chorzów on Wednesday. While the WorldTour race has retained its usual early August calendar slot, it has nevertheless been reduced from seven stages to five, running from August 5-9. This year’s race will remember Lotto Soudal rider Bjorg Lambrecht, who died after crashing on stage 3 of last year’s race between Chorzów and Zabrze, despite desperate attempts to save him in the hospital in nearby Rybnik.

Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) took victory in a bunch sprint concluding stage 2 of Tour de Pologne.

The reigning world champion produced a well-timed move and denied Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) in a long dash for the line. Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) rounded out the day’s podium.

Without Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) and Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ) present due to injuries sustained in yesterday’s crash, the yellow jersey was up for grabs. Polish rider Kamil Małecki (CCC Team) spent the day in the leader’s jersey but did not contest the final sprint and Pedersen took over the leader’s jersey, having received 10 bonus seconds.

“First of all, I would like to dedicate this victory to Jakobsen after his crash yesterday. I am super happy to dedicate it to him, [I wish] him a fast recovery, a comeback to life, to cycling”, Pedersen said after the podium ceremony.

“We had a strategy from the beginning that we should do the sprint for me. Man, the team did a perfect job and I could finish it off. I don’t know how it went behind me with Ackermann but it was just enough to keep him behind at the finish line. I am super happy to take the win in the jersey and show the team that I’m back in shape and back to racing strong,” he added.

How it unfolded

151 kilometres awaited the peloton on day 2 of racing in Poland. Racing started without 4 riders, Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ), Eduard Prades (Movistar) and Damien Touze (Cofidis) all of whom suffered injuries in yesterday’s crash. Since Jakobsen and Sarreau were classified 1-2 in the general standings, CCC Team’s Kamil Małecki (3rd overall after stage 1) was given the leader’s jersey. The Polish team initially tried to hand the jersey over to Jakobsen’s teammates, arguing it would feel “inappropriate” to wear it; however, the race regulations would not allow for that gesture.

An undulating route from Opole to Zabrze kept the peloton on the roads of Silesian and Opole Voivodeships. With only a single categorized climb (3.9 km, 4.8%) appearing after 60 kilometres of racing, sprinters were once again primed to be in the spotlight on a 6km long lap in the final.

Stage 2 saw a return of familiar faces to the front of the race. Maciej Paterski (Polish National Team) and Julius van den Berg (EF Pro Cycling) once again joined forces in the breakaway yet received no help from other riders.

The duo quickly built up a gap in excess of 6 minutes and passed the only categorized climb of the day well ahead of the pack. Van den Berg, who started the day in the mountain’s classification jersey, took the points at the summit, while Paterski won two subsequent intermediate sprints.

Bora-Hansgrohe, Mitchelton-Scott and Lotto Soudal kept their riders at the front of the bunch with Maciej Bodnar setting the pace again and slowly trimmed the gap down. With 45 kilometres left the clock stood at 3 minutes, heralding doom for the two-man move.

Paterski and Van den Berg soldiered on, hoping to show their colours on the first of three local laps in Zabrze. Behind them, Bodnar started receiving help from Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) and the gap dropped sharply below the minute mark as the escapees entered the final 30 kilometres.

As the teams started bringing forward their fast men, Paterski and Van den Berg were soon in sight and were passed by De Gendt with 16 kilometres to go. Once again Bahrain-McLaren, Trek-Segafredo and Team Ineos made their presence known up front, guarding their protected riders.

Setting up the trains for top sprinters was disrupted briefly by a solo move from Patryk Stosz of the Polish National Team, who managed a kilometre effort in front of the bunch before being brought back with 5.5km to go. From then on multiple teams fought for positions as winding roads inside the last 3 kilometres stretched the bunch.

Trek-Segafredo and Bora-Hansgrohe timed their efforts best and launched themselves into the final kilometre. As Alex Kirsch, Jasper Stuyven and Edward Theuns brought the world champion forward, Michael Schwarzmann and Rüdiger Selig followed, guiding Pascal Ackermann into position. Pedersen played to his strengths and launched the sprint first. The Dane took the lead and held it all the way to the line despite Ackermann’s attempt to take the victory on the line.

Results :
1 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 3:26:02
2 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
3 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
4 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
5 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
6 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
7 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
8 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
9 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
10 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
11 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
12 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
13 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
14 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
15 Alan Banaszek (Pol) Polish National Team
16 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
17 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
18 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team
19 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
20 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
21 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
22 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
23 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
24 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
25 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
26 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Team Ineos
27 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
28 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
29 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
30 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
31 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
32 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Polish National Team
33 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
34 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
35 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
36 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
37 Moreno Hofland (Ned) EF Pro Cycling
38 Kamil Malecki (Pol) CCC Team
39 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
40 Taco Van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
41 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
42 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
43 Tobias Foss (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
44 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
45 Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team
46 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
47 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
48 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
49 Przemys_aw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Polish National Team
50 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
51 Enrico Gasparotto (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
52 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
53 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
54 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
55 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
56 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis
57 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling
58 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
59 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
60 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
61 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
62 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
63 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
64 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
65 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team
66 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
67 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
68 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
69 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
70 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
71 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team
72 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
73 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
74 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
75 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain McLaren
76 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
77 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
78 Benjamin King (USA) NTT Pro Cycling
79 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-Quickstep
80 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
81 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
82 Gino Mäder (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
83 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
84 Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
85 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
86 Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
87 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
88 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
89 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
90 James Whelan (Aus) EF Pro Cycling
91 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
92 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) CCC Team
93 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
94 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
95 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
96 Piotr Bro_yna (Pol) Polish National Team
97 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
98 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
99 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
100 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
101 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
102 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
103 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R la Mondiale
104 Berna_ Pawel (Pol) Polish National Team
105 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
106 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
107 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
108 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
109 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
110 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
111 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
112 Patryk Stosz (Pol) Polish National Team
113 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren
114 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
115 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
116 Casper Phillip Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb
117 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
118 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
119 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
120 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
121 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
122 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
123 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
124 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
125 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-Up Nation
126 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
127 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling
128 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
129 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Lotto Soudal
130 Harry Tanfield (GBr) AG2R la Mondiale
131 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
132 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:24
133 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
134 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
135 Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates
136 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:38
137 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain McLaren
138 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:53
139 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Polish National Team
140 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
141 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
142 Ivo Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
143 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Pro Cycling 0:01:06
144 Julius Van den Berg (Ned) EF Pro Cycling
145 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis
146 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:14
147 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:19
148 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling
149 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team Ineos 0:01:27
DNS Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
DNS Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNS Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNS Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 7:57:42
2 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:04
3 Kamil Malecki (Pol) CCC Team
4 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:06
5 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
6 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:09
7 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:10
8 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
9 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
10 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
11 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
12 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
13 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
14 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team
15 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
16 Moreno Hofland (Ned) EF Pro Cycling
17 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
18 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
19 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
20 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Team Ineos
21 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
22 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
23 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
24 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling
25 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
26 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott
27 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
28 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
29 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
30 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
31 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
32 Tobias Foss (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
33 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team
34 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
35 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
36 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
37 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
38 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis
39 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
40 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
41 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
42 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
43 Enrico Gasparotto (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
44 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
45 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
46 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
47 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
48 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
49 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
50 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
51 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren
52 Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team
53 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
54 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
55 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
56 Berna_ Pawel (Pol) Polish National Team
57 Simon Geschke (Ger) CCC Team
58 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Polish National Team
59 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
60 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
61 Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
62 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-Quickstep
63 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
64 Casper Phillip Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb
65 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
66 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
67 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
68 Przemys_aw Kasperkiewicz (Pol) Polish National Team
69 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain McLaren
70 Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
71 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) CCC Team
72 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
73 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
74 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
75 Gino Mäder (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
76 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
77 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
78 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
79 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
80 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
81 Piotr Bro_yna (Pol) Polish National Team
82 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
83 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
84 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
85 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
86 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
87 James Whelan (Aus) EF Pro Cycling
88 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling
89 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
90 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
91 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
92 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
93 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
94 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Lotto Soudal
95 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:30
96 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:34
97 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:48
98 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:00:52
99 Patryk Stosz (Pol) Polish National Team
100 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:00
101 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team
102 Ivo Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:03
103 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:21
104 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
105 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:30
106 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:31
107 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R la Mondiale
108 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
109 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Team Ineos 0:01:37
110 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:01:43
111 Taco Van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
112 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
113 Benjamin King (USA) NTT Pro Cycling
114 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:55
115 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:59
116 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:02:01
117 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
118 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
119 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-Up Nation
120 Harry Tanfield (GBr) AG2R la Mondiale
121 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:04
122 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:14
123 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:30
124 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
125 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
126 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
127 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team
128 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
129 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
130 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
131 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
132 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Pro Cycling 0:02:49
133 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis
134 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling 0:02:50
135 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos 0:02:54
136 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Polish National Team 0:03:08
137 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain McLaren 0:03:20
138 Julius Van den Berg (Ned) EF Pro Cycling 0:03:29
139 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:51
140 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:01
141 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:21
142 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:28
143 Alan Banaszek (Pol) Polish National Team 0:05:40
144 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:47
145 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis 0:05:51
146 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
147 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling 0:06:36
148 Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:07:00
149 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:09:24