The dust had barely settled on Matej Mohoric’s stunning Tour de France third week stage victory before the Bahrain Victorious rider claimed yet more racing success at the Tour de Pologne this weekend, clinching a tough uphill victory against João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) on stage 2 and the overall lead into the bargain.
As things stand, Mohoric leads overall by four seconds on Almeida, and a 10-second advantage on another former winner, Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), with the rest of the field further back.
Tour de Pologne is traditionally decided by minimal margins, and reigning Portuguese national time trial champion Almeida could well be in a position to challenge his lead on Thursday’s race against the clock. But on the other hand, Mohoric may try to distance his rivals on a short, viciously steep ramp in the final kilometre of Monday’s stage 3. The race in other words remains wide open.
“We’ll see about the rest of the race, I also have overall ambitions,” Mohoric said after winning stage 2, “but it won’t be easy with the TT. Monday’s stage, though, could be another one for me to try to win.”
“Tomorrow [Monday] is an interesting stage, with a lot of climbs, a long descent off the last one then a tricky uphill finish. So it will likely be a very reduced group again, so maybe there’s a chance to go for a stage win.”
“I have felt incredibly strong, all day, today and in fact since Wednesday when I first went training after the Tour, so I definitely want to make the most of it in this race and in the rest of the season.”
It’s easier said than done, but Mohoric did not have too many problems staying on track for Pologne after the Tour de France, he told Cyclingnews earlier on Sunday and prior to his win, with just a couple of training rides and a visit to his family on his schedule prior to heading to Poznan for Saturday’s start.
“I’m not a huge party animal,” he said, “I had a very nice dinner with the team in Paris and then I travelled back home to my family.”
“I did three and a half hours training on Wednesday, four and a half on Thursday, and then rested Friday and here we are now.”
Pologne is a race where Mohoric has shone in the past. As Almeida pointed out after stage 2, the top three finishers this year on Karpacz stage 2 are the same three that finished on the GC podium in 2021 – with the Portuguese rider the winner, Mohoric in second and Kwiatkowski in third.
“I think I can be happy…
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