Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale) reclaimed the leader’s yellow jersey in the Tour of Poland in the penultimate stage Friday after a late burst in which he bridged the gap to Darwin Atapuma (Colombia), who would eventually win the stage.
Prior to the time trial on the closing stage today, Riblon said he felt confident about his prospects of clinging on to his lead and thus win the race outright. . Riblon bested overnight race leader Ion Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) by 22 seconds and enjoys a 19-seconds lead going into the all-deciding time trial.
“On the second climb of the last lap I knew at my legs were good,” Riblon told L’Èquipe after the stage.
“Majka and Henao attacked but I saw they weren't exactly super so I counterattacked and nobody managed to stay with me,” Riblon added. “For me it was a good chance to gain some seconds in the general classification. I thought I had some allies in the lead group. I was afraid they would attack but everyone was really tired. When I ended up with Atapuma the circumstances of the race made it so that he won the stage and I gained seconds for the GC.”
Standing between Riblon and overall victory is the 37km final time trial between Wieliczka and Kraków.
“I really like time trials as a specialty,” he said. “I have good legs and I hope I can actually win the Tour de Pologne."
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