Tour of Poland 2021 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE]

August 15, 2021

Tour of Poland 2021 – Stage 7 – Zabrze – Kraków : 145,1 km

The Tour de Pologne is the only WorldTour race in Poland, it offers a testing ground for talented young riders on some of the sport’s teams. Some may assume leadership in a week-long race for the first time, some will try to add a WorldTour win to their palmares. The route favours puncheurs and climbers who can hold their own in the 19-kilometre stage 6 time trial, although, due to a bizarre application of the time gaps measuring protocol, the race promises to be a battle for every second.

João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) won the 78th edition of the Tour de Pologne, taking his first two stage wins on the WorldTour level earlier this week and sealing the overall victory on stage 7.

Julius van den Berg (EF Education-Nippo) led the successful breakaway into Kraków, outsprinting Alexis Reynard (Israel Start-Up Nation) after a frantic chase on the local laps. Movistar Team’s Matteo Jorgenson finished third and Ineos Grenadiers’ Gianni Moscon fourth, as the group finished metres ahead of the sprinters.

“I didn’t know that the peloton was so close. We went full gas all the way, we tried to get the best out of it but I didn’t expect we’d make it. The local lap was pretty easy actually, not too many corners, so I thought the peloton would come back. Eventually, we made it,” van den Berg told TVP Sport after the podium ceremony.

Van den Berg dedicated the victory to the late Bjorg Lambrecht, who died in 2019 after a crash on stage 3 of the Polish race.

“It’s a really beautiful one. The last two years in Poland were not so good. Two years ago Bjorg Lambrecht passed away, it was terrible. Last year it was my friend Fabio Jakobsen, who crashed really bad. So to be honest, I almost didn’t come here, I thought that I didn’t like it [the race]. Eventually, I thought that if you keep thinking about the bad sides, nothing good will come out of it. I proved it here. I went to Poland, I tried everything. I had these two moments in my mind the whole day. This victory is for Bjorg. It’s a beautiful day.”

Almeida, who is set to move to UAE Team Emirates next year, scored two major results in the last two seasons, finishing 4th and 6th in the last two editions of the Giro d’Italia.

Still 23, until recently his only win in a UCI-sanctioned race was the national time trial champion’s title, earned earlier this year. This week, he launched a bold move to win stage 2 of the Polish race and then sprinted to victory on stage 4, further solidifying his lead. Only his teammate Remi Cavagna got the better of him in the previous day’s time trial, which gave Deceuninck-QuickStep three stage wins and the overall success for the second time in a row.

Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) and Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) joined the young Portuguese rider on the podium, maintaining the composition of the podium as set by the penultimate stage.

How it unfolded

Almeida could have felt fairly secure coming into the last stage of the Tour de Pologne. With a handy advantage over Mohoric and Ulissi, he only needed to get through the roads of Lesser Poland safely. Starting in Zabrze, an industrial centre in Lower Silesia, the route led east, through winding roads of Lesser Poland before entering Kraków for three local laps, 5 kilometres each.

Julius van den Berg (EF Education-Nippo), Gianni Moscon (Ineos Grenadiers), Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux), Alexis Reynard (Israel Start-Up Nation), and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team) formed the day’s breakaway, getting a slim, two-minute allowance from the peloton.

Deceuninck-QuickStep riders kept the race under control throughout the week and didn’t want any surprises. While Moscon led the group through the final climb of the race and Van den Berg added some Euros to the team’s tally by winning the intermediate sprint, their gap never really went north of two minutes.

Vanspeybrouck won the special premie with 65 kilometres to go and was the first to come back to the bunch with 30 kilometres remaining. His breakaway companions soldiered on, holding an advantage of 90 seconds upon entering the local circuit and managing to force the sprinters’ teams to scramble for help with the chase.

The race turned from a snoozy wait for the fast men to perform in the final metres into a nail-biting affair. With 10 kilometres remaining Moscon, Van den Berg, Reynard, and Jorgenson still held 48 seconds over the bunch and raced around the circuit in a desperate attempt of foiling the sprinters’ teams. Wide roads and the absence of technical corners didn’t play to their hand but the presence of Ineos Grenadiers riders towards the front of the group helped to slow down the chasers. Soon what once seemed like a fantasy started shaping up to be the biggest upset of the race.

The leading four cooperated until the last two kilometres and thus still had 43 seconds at their disposal for the cat-and-mouse game before the sprint. Jorgenson led them into the final kilometre, while Van den Berg launched first, seeing Moscon fade and the bunch closing in on them.

The 24-year-old Dutchman, who previously unsuccessfully scouted breakaways in the Polish race, this time had enough power left to beat Reynard in the sprint and take the biggest win of his career. Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-QuickStep) led the bunch to take 5th place seconds later, crossing the line as Van den Berg’s hand was still pointed into the sky, a simple yet powerful tribute to Bjorg Lambrecht.

Results :
1 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-Nippo 2:58:46
2 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
3 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
4 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
5 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
6 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates
7 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
8 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
9 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
10 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
11 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
12 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
13 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ
14 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
15 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange
16 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
17 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team
18 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
19 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
20 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
21 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Qhubeka NextHash
22 Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol) Poland
23 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
24 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
25 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix
26 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation
27 Patryk Stosz (Pol) Poland
28 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
29 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep
30 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
31 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
32 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
33 Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team
34 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
35 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
36 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
37 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
38 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) EF Education-Nippo
39 Dion Smith (NZl) Team BikeExchange
40 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
41 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
42 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team DSM
43 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
45 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
46 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
47 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
48 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
49 Tanel Kangert (Est) Team BikeExchange
50 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
51 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
52 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
53 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Team BikeExchange
54 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Astana-Premier Tech
55 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
56 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal
57 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal
58 Quinten Hermans (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
59 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
60 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
61 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
62 Anthony Jullien (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
63 Michal Paluta (Pol) Poland
64 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën Team
65 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroën Team
66 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
67 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
68 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
69 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
70 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
71 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-Nippo
72 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
73 Tom Bohli (Swi) Cofidis
74 Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ
75 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Qhubeka NextHash
76 Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
77 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
78 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
79 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education-Nippo
80 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
81 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-up Nation
82 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
83 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma
84 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Poland
85 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
86 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Poland
87 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
88 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
89 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team
90 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Poland
91 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis
92 Daniel Arroyave Cañas (Col) EF Education-Nippo
93 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
94 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
95 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
96 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM
97 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
98 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
99 Amanuel Gehbreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo
100 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal
101 Senne Leysen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
102 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team DSM
103 David Dekker (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
104 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
105 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
106 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
107 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
108 Julien El Fares (Fra) EF Education-Nippo
109 Charlie Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
110 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
111 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
112 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
113 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Qhubeka NextHash
114 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) Poland
115 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
116 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Team BikeExchange
117 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
118 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
119 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis
120 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
121 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
122 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Israel Start-up Nation
123 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
124 Sean Bennett (USA) Qhubeka NextHash
125 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:36
126 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
127 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:00:44
128 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:00:57
129 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:14
130 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:00
131 Rob Power (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash 0:02:43
132 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
133 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:03:11
134 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
135 Michal Golas (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:14
136 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:03:20
137 Simon Clarke (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash
138 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-QuickStep
139 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
140 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM 0:03:40
DNF Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

Final General Classification :
1 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep 26:15:53
2 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:20
3 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:27
4 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:37
5 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:53
6 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:57
7 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team DSM 0:01:06
8 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:25
9 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:01:28
10 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:30
11 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:35
12 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:01:45
13 Dion Smith (NZl) Team BikeExchange 0:01:46
14 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:01:58
15 Tanel Kangert (Est) Team BikeExchange 0:02:00
16 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:02:02
17 Quinten Hermans (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:02:04
18 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:07
19 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma
20 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis 0:02:24
21 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:26
22 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:02:30
23 Einer Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team 0:02:34
24 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Astana-Premier Tech 0:02:37
25 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal 0:02:40
26 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
27 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:43
28 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team 0:02:51
29 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix 0:02:52
30 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix 0:02:54
31 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:02:55
32 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:02:57
33 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:03:03
34 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:09
35 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:03:17
36 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 0:03:33
37 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM 0:03:35
38 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education-Nippo 0:03:40
39 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën Team 0:03:56
40 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Team BikeExchange 0:04:39
41 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Poland 0:05:36
42 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Qhubeka NextHash 0:05:43
43 Amanuel Gehbreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:45
44 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:08:22
45 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team 0:08:46
46 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) Poland 0:08:59
47 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Jumbo-Visma 0:09:22
48 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal 0:10:17
49 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM 0:10:54
50 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:11:02
51 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Israel Start-up Nation 0:11:11
52 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:22
53 Senne Leysen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:11:52
54 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:12:01
55 Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ 0:12:08
56 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:12:13
57 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:13:42
58 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Team BikeExchange 0:13:51
59 Julien El Fares (Fra) EF Education-Nippo 0:14:28
60 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:14:40
61 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:14:42
62 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:14:50
63 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team DSM
64 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation 0:14:53
65 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroën Team 0:15:13
66 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:15:21
67 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Poland 0:15:51
68 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:16:18
69 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:16:35
70 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:16:56
71 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis 0:17:45
72 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 0:17:50
73 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:17:59
74 Patryk Stosz (Pol) Poland 0:18:34
75 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
76 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:43
77 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers 0:18:47
78 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team 0:19:03
79 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:19:10
80 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Qhubeka NextHash 0:19:30
81 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:19:33
82 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis 0:19:34
83 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:20:01
84 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:20:02
85 Simon Clarke (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash 0:20:43
86 Michal Paluta (Pol) Poland 0:21:18
87 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation 0:21:45
88 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:22:28
89 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange 0:22:44
90 Sean Bennett (USA) Qhubeka NextHash 0:23:42
91 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain Victorious 0:24:04
92 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:24:10
93 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:24:18
94 David Dekker (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:24:33
95 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:25:09
96 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team 0:25:38
97 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:25:48
98 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:25:51
99 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:26:05
100 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM 0:26:08
101 Daniel Arroyave Cañas (Col) EF Education-Nippo 0:27:07
102 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:27:27
103 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM 0:27:31
104 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:28:54
105 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:29:27
106 Michal Golas (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers 0:30:16
107 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Poland 0:32:12
108 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:32:16
109 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:32:24
110 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:32:54
111 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-Nippo 0:33:29
112 Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:33:31
113 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team 0:34:00
114 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:34:02
115 Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Pol) Poland 0:34:05
116 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:34:07
117 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates 0:35:35
118 Charlie Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo 0:35:39
119 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) EF Education-Nippo 0:36:06
120 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:36:27
121 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:36:28
122 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:36:31
123 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-up Nation 0:36:47
124 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-Nippo 0:37:26
125 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:37:52
126 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Qhubeka NextHash 0:39:02
127 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:39:31
128 Taco van der Hoorn (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:40:34
129 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis 0:40:56
130 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:41:11
131 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM 0:41:34
132 Anthony Jullien (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:42:31
133 Tom Bohli (Swi) Cofidis 0:42:35
134 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation 0:43:14
135 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:45:41
136 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:46:21
137 Rob Power (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash 0:48:21
138 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:48:57
139 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:50:20
140 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:53:25