Riding for the Polish national team, Marcin Bialoblocki delivered a big surprise when he took a big WorldTour victory in the final time trial of the Tour de Pologne. The Polish national champion beat pre-stage favourite Vasil Kiryienka (Sky) by just 2 seconds while Rick Flens (LottoNL-Jumbo) was 59 seconds off the place in third. After a huge drama and two consecutive second places, Ion Izagirre (Movistar) finally took the overall victory with a 2-second advantage over Bart De Clercq (Lotto Soudal) and Ben Hermans (BMC) one second further adrift in third.

For several years, Marcin Bialoblocki has been one of the best riders on the British domestic scene but he has not been a household name in the professional cycling world. That is likely to change in the future after he created a major surprise by winning the final time trial of the Tour de Pologne.

Riding for a continental team, Bialoblocki only got a chance to ride his home race by being selected for the Polish national team and as the reigning national TT champion, the flat final 25km stage in Krakow was always going to be a major goal for him. He showed good condition when he was in the break on stage 3 and since then he has saved energy for one final big effort in the Polish heat.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to win today” said Bialoblocki. “Of course, I’d dreamt about it, but I was fully aware that there were many adversaries and that they were very strong. However, today I really gave it all I had.

"There were tons of people along the streets cheering me on and there were many people close to me who travelled many kilometres to come see me, so I absolutely wanted to do well and give everything for them. It was a fantastic thrill.

"There’s nothing else like this, I can’t compare the victories I’ve scored up to now with this one. This is an entirely different level. After winning the Polish National Time Trial Championships, this for me is a dream come true.”

Bialoblocki participated in the tour with the Polish national team but during the year he races for the continental team One Procycling. 

“A few years ago I decided to go to England to have a chance. I worked hard, even pulling night shifts at work so I could have time to train. Today’s success is a reward for me and the people who believed in me and all my efforts.”