Two stages in the Italian Dolomites, small 6-rider rosters and rule changes that include substantial bonuss seconds for the riders with most points in the intermediate and KOM points, make this year's Tour de Pologne a unique experience. As usual, the 7-stage race is the first step on the long road towards the Vuelta for those riders that didn't race the Tour, and this year is no exception as riders like Vincenzo Nibali, Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran are just some of the riders tat kick start the second half of their season in Poland. At the same time, a certain Sir Bradley Wiggins has started his journey towards the world TT championships with 7 days of racing in the Polish national tour. Starting at 17.00, you can follow today's first Polish stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

After two hard stages in the Italian Dolomites and an unusual rest day, the riders have finally arrived in Poland where they will stay until the race's conclusion on Saturday. Until now the race has been one for the climbers but the sprinters will get their chance to shine on today's 226km stage from Krakow to Pzeszow Podkarpackie. The first part is slightly hilly but from then on the roads are mostly gradually descending with some small climbs along the way. Only one of those has been categorized and the category 3 Lubenia climb comes at the 35,6km to go mark. After a short descent, the roads are completely flat and the stage finishes with 3 laps on a 6km circuit. The finish is not overly technical and should offer the sprinters what could be one of only two chances to shine.

With only few chances for the sprinters, it is no surprise that most of them have chosen to skip the Polish race but a few fast finishers have decided to line up at the event. Orica-GreenEdge has a very fast duo with Aidis Kruopis and Leigh Howard, Belkin hopes that Mark Renshaw is back to his best after his Tour of Turkey crash, Thor Hushovd wants to continue his revenge run after being denied a place on the BMC roster for the Tour, Sky counts on Ben Swift who won two stages last year, Ag2r has the always fast Yauheni Hutarovich and Argos-Shimano believes that the sprint revelation Luka Mezgec can continue his run of success. Daniele Ratto, Michal Golas, Steele Von Hoff, Francisco Ventoso, Grega Bole, Vicente Reynes, Dennis Vanendert, Tosh Van Der Sande, Mathieu Ladagnous, Daniel Schorn, Leonardo Duque, Jeffry Romero and Bartlomiej Matysiak can also be expected to mix it up in what should be a mass sprint at around 19 o'clock this evening.

Starting at 17.00 you can follow the stage here.