From Sunday August 2 until Saturday August 8 the Tour de Pologne takes place. This stage race is part of the WorldTour and is organized for the 72nd time.

The first stage is the shortest one. It’s kind of a criterium as the riders have to cover ten laps of 12.2 kilometres each in the centre of Warsaw. The second and third stage are also short. Both have a similar hilly profile, it’s very probable the sprinters will battle for the stage win here.

On the fourth day the peloton has to cover 220 kilometres and three climbs, one of the second and two of the first category. The fifth stage is the longest and the toughest one. There are eight climbs of the first category on the route, this is the queen stage. Also in the sixth stage eight climbs will be waiting for the riders over a distance of 174 kilometres. The Tour de Pologne ends with an individual time trial of 25 kilometres in and around Krakow. It’s on a relatively flat course, but it could still be exciting for the overall victory.

Lotto Soudal takes the start with among other Jurgen Van den Broeck, Maxime Monfort and Kris Boeckmans. On the start list are riders like world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, Marcel Kittel and Fabio Aru. For Mario Aerts this is his first Tour de Pologne as a sports director.

“It has been a while since I was at the Tour de Pologne, the last time was as a rider. I always found it a beautiful stage race, with a tough but varied course. That’s the same this year. The first three stages we’ll get a sprint, the fourth stage will be too tough for the real sprinters. For the GC riders the two mountain stages and the time trial will be crucial," he said.

“For the first stages Kris Boeckmans is our man. Jasper De Buyst will be his lead-out, we want to test this for the Vuelta. Jurgen Van den Broeck, Maxime Monfort and Bart De Clercq are our GC riders. For them this is the first race after the training camp in Livigno. They can warm up in the first four stages before they get to the tough stages. Sander Armée, Vegard Breen and Boris Vallée will play their part as well, they can join breakaways for example.

"This isn’t just a preparation for the Vuelta. It’s a WorldTour race with strong riders at the start. It will be an animated race. I really expect something and I am looking forward to it.”

Selection Tour de Pologne:

Sander Armée, Kris Boeckmans, Vegard Breen, Jasper De Buyst, Bart De Clercq, Maxime Monfort, Boris Vallée and Jurgen Van den Broeck.