The Tour de France may barely be over but for the Vuelta contenders it is already time to launch their campaign. The Tour de Pologne has built up a reputation as an invaluable kick start a bid to win the Spanish grand tour and the line-up suggests that this year will be no different. A start in Italy, the most attractive route ever and new rule changes should spice things up and create a very exciting edition of the ever-growing event that has seen the rise of some of the most beautiful talents in recent years.

The Tour de Pologne is actually a very old race but it has only made its existence known to the general cycling public in the last decade. First held in 1928, it enjoyed a mostly anonymous life as a national tour that mostly attracted Polish riders and did little to make an impact on the international cycling scene. Up until the 1990s, the winners were almost all national riders but during the last decade of the 1900s, more international riders got aware of the beautiful Polish race.

The major breakthrough as an international event came with the lauch of the UCI ProTour in 2005. To avoid building the series of only races in cycling's traditional powerhouses, UCI decided to include the Polish national tour on the list of the world's leading events. Suddenly, the biggest teams in the world were obliged to enter the race which enjoyed a special position as the only Eastern European event on the sport's finest calendar.

Since then the race has maintained its position on the UCI ProTour which later evolved into the UCI WorldTour and gradually the event has found its feet. In 2005, it was mostly a race for sprinters with often just one slightly hilly stage to spice things up while most of the stages were excessively long, flat runs through Poland. The race was held in early September and so was seen as a perfect preparation event for the worlds. It was no surprise that the organizers managed to attract many classics specialists. The winner's list was an illustrious one as Kim Kirchen, Stefan Schumacher, Johan Vansummeren and Jens Voigt took home the first 4 editions of the rejuvenated race.

However, those races were all plagued by bad weather with extreme rain even forcing the riders to neutralize a stage. To avoid those conditions, the race was rescheduled to become a late-July/early-August event in 2009. It lost its status as preparation event for the worlds but instead gained a new position as an almost indispensible part of the race schedule for those Vuelta contenders who had not raced the Tour. At the same time, the race managed to attract some of the Tour riders who hoped to use their post-Tour condition to pick up a few good results.

That is the current role of the race which has also found a much more attractive and thoroughly tested format. The most recent courses have all been very similar to each other with a couple of flat stages mixed up with a testing stage to Cieszyn and the queen stages to Zakopane and Bukowina Tatrzanska being the fixed core of the race itinerary.

While those courses have all been rather successful, the organizers have now decided that it is time to develop the race a bit further. To celebrate the relationship with Poland and the Italian Trentino region, this year's edition will start in Italy which allows the race to kick off with two very tough mountain stages. A rest day on Monday brings the race back to its home country where the challenging and well-tested stages to Zakopane and Bukowina Tatrzanska should make further ground for aggressive racing. To spice things up even further, the traditional final sprint stage to Krakow has been replaced by a difficult, hilly 39km time trial. The race which has usually come down to a matter of seconds and bonifications, now shape up as a very hard mini grand tour.

To add further to the spectacle, the race has been chosen as a test event for the UCI to try out new rules that should create more attractive races. First of all the usual 8-rider teams will be replaced by reduced 6-rider rosters which should make it much harder for the teams to control the racing. Secondly, a rule change has been included to force the GC riders to race more aggressively. Every day the rider who picks up most points in the day's intermediate and KOM sprints (points from both types of sprints will be added) will receive a 30-second time bonus. The runner-up in that daily classification will get his time reduced by 20 seconds while the 3rd rider will be awarded a 10-second bonification. At the same time, the organizers have placed most of those sprints in the latter parts of the stages where the early break is likely to have been caught. Suddenly, it may be worthwhile for a GC rider to go for a KOM sprint instead of saving energy for the finale. It is still too early to say what impact those changes will have on the racing but the riders will certainly have to adjust their race tactics.

True to its role as a preparation race for the Vuelta, the race has attracted the big Vuelta stars that did not race the Tour. Vincenzo Nibali, Ivan Basso, Sergio Henao, Rigoberto Uran, Domenico Pozzovivo, Michele Scarponi, Robert Kiserlovski and Juan Jose Cobo will all use the event to build up the condition that should see them shine in Spain in late August and early September.  At the same time, the importance of WorldTour points means that the race itself will be highly contested.

In recent years, it has given some of the most exciting talents the possibility to pick up a big result. In 2010 Daniel Martin took his only stage race win to date while a certain Peter Sagan denied the Irishman a repeat win one year later. Last year, the race also came down to a battle between the young guns when the race had temporarily been rescheduled to run concurrently with the Tour, thus forming a perfect warm-up race for the Olympics. Moreno Moser made it two in a row for Liquigas as he won a tight battle with Michal Kwiatkowski and Sergio Henao. Moser and Kwiatkowski have both just finished their first grand tour and so won't line up in Poland this year but Henao will be back as he kick starts the campaign that should allow him to enter the Vuelta in peak condition.

The course

As said, the race makes its first journey into Italy in recent history for a very mountainous start to the race. On Saturday, the race kicks off with one of two consecutive summit finishes as the riders will travel 184,1km from Rovereto to Madonna di Campiglio. A long, flat opening stretch will be an opportunity to warm up the legs ahead of the category 1 Fai Della Paganella climb (10,8km, 7,0%). A long, gradual descent leads to the uncategorized Passo Del Bollino which is followed immediately  by the category 2 Passo del Durone (5km, 6,1%) which has an 18% section near its top. A fast descent leads to the bottom of a long, gradually ascending stretch and then it is time to start the category 1 Madonna di Campiglio climb (11km, 5,9%) which has the finish line located at its top. Those numbers are a little bit deceptive as the first part of the climb has a constant gradient around 6,5%-7% while the final two kilometres are much easier with an average gradient of 2,6%. The KOM sprint is located 2,5km from the finish which should spice things up a bit due to the rule changes.

The first stage will have given a first indication of the climbing hierarchy but that will be even more established at the end of Sunday's second stage which should be the queen stage. A mammoth 206,5km route greets the riders and brings them from Marilleva Val di Sole to the well-known Passo Pordoi that was most recently a summit finish at last year's Giro del Trentino (and conquered by Darwin Atapuma while Domenico Pozzovivo sealed his overall win).The first 134,8km are rather easy as the terrain is only slightly rolling but from then hell breaks loose. The well-known Giro d'Italia mountain Passo di Pampeago (10,5km, 9,7%) is a category 1 climb and is a torturous ascent. The first 1,1km has an average gradient of 5,3% but from then on, the gradient won't drop below 8,7% while it has 3,7km section with an average gradient of 11,8% and a 16% stretch. The descent leads to the bottom of the famous category 1 Passo Costalunga (9,3km, 8,2%) which has a 21% section on the lower slopes. A short descent and a section of slightly ascending valley roads will take the riders to the bottom of the category 1 Passo Pordoi (13km, 6,0%). That climb is not overly difficult but with a finishing height at 2239m and several tough climbs already in the legs, it will do its fair share of damage on the peloton.

Monday will give the riders an opportunity to rest as they travel to Poland for the final 5 stages of the race. The first of those comes on Tuesday and is a long 226km run 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.

The second of those opportunities comes on Wednesday which offers the riders an even longer stage. The travel from Tarnow to Katowice is no less than 231,5km long and the opening part is almost completely flat. At the midpoint the riders face a long gradual ascent and a gradual descent that brings the riders to the finishing city of Katowice. Here the riders tackle 4 laps on a 12,3km finishing circuit and unlike the previous day's circuit, this one is not totally flat. The two small hills are, however, not steep at all and should do very little to challenge the sprinters who will make a U-turn at the flamme rouge to enter the slightly descending finishing straight.

One of the Tour de Pologne classics await the riders on Thursday when they will tackle a 160,5km stage from Nowy Targ to Zakopane. Early in the stage the riders will climb the uncategorized ascent to Bukowina Tatrzanska (5km, 4,4%) which will play a key role on Friday's stage and has a 1-kilometre 8,1% section at its midpoint.  A descent and subsequent flat stretch lead the riders to the category 1 Lapszanka climb (6km, 4,9%) which is followed immediately by another climb up to Bukowina Tatrzanska where the peloton will enter the finishing circuit. A descent will bring the riders to the bottom of the category 2 Zakopane climb (7km, 2,6%) where a short descent and a final kilometre with a 3,1% gradient will lead them to the first passage of the finish line. The peloton will then tackle two laps on a 40,5km finishing circuit that is up and down all the time. In addition to the Zakopane climb, the Glodowka  climb (8km, 3,0%) has also been categorized as a category 2 climb but has a very long descent to the bottom of the Zakopane ascent. The finishing straight is 1km long and only has a very slight bend towards the end. The uphill finish and the many climbs are enough to put the pure sprinters into difficulty but it is not a day to create any separation among the GC contenders. It should be won by one of the most resistant sprinters as is seen from the three most recent winners: Edvald Boasson Hagen, Peter Sagan and Ben Swift.

Friday's 192km stage is another Tour de Pologne classic which has played the role of queen stage in the two most recent editions but has to give away that honour to the Italian stages this year. The stage consists of 5 laps on a 38,4km circuit around Bukowina Tatrzanska in Poland's hilly south and it is a very tough one. The circuit consists of three climbs and their subsequent descents with no flat roads in between. The category 1 Gliczarow Gorny (5,5km, 5,7%) is the first and has a tough 21,5% section at its midpoint. Next in line is the category 1 Zab climb (4,5km, 5,8%) which reaches a maximum gradient of 11,5% along the way. The final difficulty has not been categorized but the 5,0km ascent with an average gradient of 4,4% has the finish line located at its top. The third kilometre is the hardest with an 8,1% gradient and an 11,5% maximum but the final two kilometres are much easier at 2,6% and 3,8% respectively. The finish line comes at the end of a long only slightly winding road. The finish has been used in the three most recent editions. In 2010, Bauke Mollema attacked from a long distance to open up a 7-second gap on a small group at the finish, in 2011 Daniel Martin put 1 second into his nearest chaser Wout Poels while Sagan lost 13 seconds and in 2012 Sergio Henao was reeled in by Moreno Moser and Michal Kwiatkowski just on the line with the Italian coming out triumphant. The stage may provide some separation between the best riders but it is usually just a matter of seconds. With numerous KOMs along the way, the new rules can really come into play on this stage and stage 5.

The race finishes with a novelty in the race's most recent history as the event includes its first time trial since it was granted ProTour status. The 39km course from Wieliczka to the traditional finish in Krakow is very long and so the stage has the potential to open up some big gaps between the GC contenders. The first 18km consist of a small loop south of Wieliczka and has a couple of rolling hills but the final 21km takes the riders along a long, straight, flat road into the center of Krakow. That final section really suit the powerful specialists and we are sure that a certain Sir Bradley Wiggins is intent on showing that he is still one of the best time triallists in the world. At the same time, the stage is one of the single most crucial for the final GC and nothing will be decided until the very end.

The weather

As said, the Tour de Pologne was rescheduled to avoid the rainy conditions and that decisions appears to once again pay off. It should be another mostly sunny edition of the big Polish race which will start out in Italy in sunny conditions and 23-degree temperatures. There should be almost no wind but clouds a bit of rain could make its presence felt in the late afternoon when the riders are set to finish the stage. The second stage should be raced under bright sunshine with temperatures of 23-degrees and once again very little wind.

There won't be much of a change when the riders leave Italy to head to the home country of the race. The riders should experience the worst conditions on Tuesday which should be a bit more windy and possibly offer some rain. The temperatures should be around 25 degrees. Wednesday's stage should be held in mostly sunny conditions and similar temperatures.

When the race heads into the hills on Thursday, it should be slightly cooler with temperatures hovering just below the 20-degree mark but the conditions will still be sunny with very little windy. Friday should be a very beautiful day with 25 degrees, no wind and bright sunshine. The race is expected to come to a very hot conclusion on Saturday where the forecasts predict 32-degree temperatures for the final time trial battle.

The favourites

The Tour de Pologne is one of the harder races to predict as most riders enter the race just off the back of a mid-season break from competition and many riders haven't raced since their national championships. Their conditions are all a bit up in the air and not even the teams themselves have a clear idea of what to expect. For most of the biggest names, the race is also mostly a preparation for upcoming bigger objectives and so it is no surprise that some of the young guns have beaten all the stage race stars in the most recent editions. Only a few Tour de France riders have decided to start the race and it is also hard to know how they will cope with a tough one-week race on the back of a very hard three-week Tour.

Nonetheless, the race has a clear favourite. Bradley Wiggins hasn't raced since the Giro but he has a habit of always competing for the win when he lines up at the start line. He hasn't spoken publicly for a very long time and so very few know anything about his current level of condition but the fact is that he hasn't finished a stage race with a time trial without winning since the Tour de Algarve in February 2012 where he ended up 3rd despite working for teammate Richie Porte. Most other stage race riders in the race have their sights firmly set on the Vuelta a Espana and so cannot allow themselves to be too strong at the moment. However, Wiggins has opted to skip the Spanish grand tour to instead put his focus on the Tour of Britain and the world time trial championships and that schedule should allow him to be much stronger than most of his rivals.

However, the most important aspect could very well be Wiggins' mental approach to the race. No one doubts that the relationship between the Olympic champion and teammate Chris Froome is strained. Wiggins is a proud Brit and is unlikely to allow himself to turn up in a bad condition just one week after Froome's coronation as Tour champion. He would love to show that he is still very much part of the world elite of cycling by taking a big WorldTour win just weeks later.

Furthermore, the route suits him well. It is of course the 39km time trial that marks him out as the major favourite as his time gains on that stage should easily make up for his potential time loss in the mountains. None of his rivals are known as major time trial specialists and the final stage is a clear advantage for the Brits. The final climbs in the Italian stages are gradual ascents that suit him well and the only really tricky, steep climb, the Pampeago mountain, is located too far away from the finish to trouble Wiggins. The final Polish stages are more explosive than he would have liked but his potential time loss should be a matter of seconds. The most tricky elements for Wiggins to negotiate are the rule changes. They certainly don't suit Wiggins' monotonous, steady climbing style as they encourage his rivals to go on the attack. However, Wiggins is no bad sprinter and famously won a reduced bunch sprint in the 2012 Tour de Romandie. Those attributes should allow to pick up a few points along the way, thus making sure that he won't lose too much time by virtue of bonus seconds. Finally, he has the strongest team to support him and the Brit could not wish better mountain domestiques than Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran.

Wiggins' biggest rival could very well be one of the big revelations of the spring season. Having had a couple of difficult seasons since his 2010 Tour de Romandie win, Simon Spilak has really stepped up his game this year. He finished 4th in the Vuelta a Andalucia and 6th in the Paris-Nice before going on to take 4th - ahead of Alberto Contador - in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco where he was climbing at the same level as the likes of Henao, Richie Porte and Nairo Quintana. His real standout performance came at the Tour de Romandie where he was the only rider able to matcs Chris Froome in the queen stage, taking a huge win before going on to take 2nd on GC. A few days later he finished his spring season with a win in the Rund um den Finanzplatz and took a fine 9th in the Tour de Suisse in the early summer.

Since then he has had a long mid-season break before abandoning the Prueba Villafranca on Thursday. As most other riders, his condition is a bit up in the air but he is one of the select few with the allround capabilities and top level to compete for the win. His main strength is his excellent climbing legs but he is no bad time triallist at all, having finished 5th in both the flat Tour de Romandie and the very hilly Vuelta al Pais Vasco races against the clock. He is likely to target the Vuelta a Espana but on that occasion he will put his services behind Joaquin Rodriguez and so could try to take some personal success while he builds up for that race.

Should Wiggins fail to be competitive, Sky has another very strong podium contender. Sergio Henao hasn't raced since the Giro but at his best he could very well be the best climber in the race. The Colombian is set to share Sky captaincy duties at the Vuelta with Rigoberto Uran and so has his sights on the long-term objective. Like Wiggins, he has a habit of always being at a high level and so should not be too far off the mark in Poland. If he can find back the legs that saw him shine in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco - where he won a stage, led the race until the final time trial and finished 3rd overall - and the Ardennes classics and if he is allowed to pursue his personal success, this could be the chance for him to finally win a big stage race.

He is no great time triallist and so should lose a good chunk of time in the final stage. However, that also goes for most of his rivals and so he won't have too big of a disadvantage. The mountain stages in Italy suit him well and the Polish stages are not too bad for the explosive rider either. Finally, that explosive nature should allow him to benefit from the rule changes. Sky could choose to let Henao pick up most of the points to benefit Wiggins' overall prospects and that could put Henao high up the overall standings as well. Of course Sky also has Rigoberto Uran as a GC option but unlike his fellow Colombian, the Giro runner-up has a tendency to be going far slower this far from his big objectives and so we would be somewhat surprised to see him compete for the win.

Lampre had a disappointing Tour de France but has lined up what looks like most of its A team for the Tour de Pologne. While Przemyslaw Niemiec appeared extremely fatigued at the end of the Tour and Jose Serpa may lack the top level climbing to seriously compete for the win, the Italian duo of  Michele Scarponi and Diego Ulissi could mix it up at the top end of the GC. Both are likely to target the Vuelta a Espana but no official confirmation has been given.

Scarponi has had a really good season and with the Giro del Trentino being a notable exception, he has mixed it up at the pointy end of all his races. However, he has had his fair share of bad luck and so could have had far bigger results on his palmares. A puncture and crashes ruled him out of the Paris-Nice and Tour de Suisse GCs respectively but he still took 3rd in the Volta a Catalunya, 4th in the Giro, 5th in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and 2nd in his national championships. Like Henao and Wiggins, he is usually competitive in all his races and he would relish the opportunity to shine on home soil. As he has improved immensely in the time trial this year and should benefit from the rule changes, he could finally take another big WorldTour stage race win.

Ulissi may not be as consistent as his veteran teammate but has stepped up his top level a further notch this season. He finished 7th in the Paris-Nice before going on to win the Coppi e Bartali race. He suffered in the cold in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and never hit his best form for the Ardennes and his early-summer campaign came to nothing due to a Tour de Suisse crash. He still hasn't shown that he can be competitive with the very best in the high mountains and the Italian climbs may be a little bit too long to his liking. On the other hand, he is very fast and could pick up some bonus seconds by virtue of the rule changes. Finally, he is no bad time triallist and should gain time on most of his rivals in the race against the clock.

Astana may line up both Vincenzo Nibali and Tanel Kangert at the race but the team has made it clear that it has no expectations for those two stage race specialists. Instead, it hopes to see Alexandr Dyachenko step onto the podium in Krakow. Having long shown promises, the Kazakh has finally found the legs to compete with the best riders this year and most recently finished 2nd in the Tour of Austria, proving that he has some good form at the moment. Earlier this year he took a fine 11th in the Tour de Suisse and was 4th at the Giro del Trentino while working hard to support Nibali. In a race where most of his rivals may lack that crucial peak condition, it could be Dyachenko's time to shine. He is a very versatile athlete who climbs well and is a strong time triallist. He famously finished 9th in the world time trial championships in 2011 and while he may not have found exactly those legs since then, he should benefit from the long final race against the clock.

Leopold König has long been touted as a big stage racing talent but this year the results are finally there to prove it.  He had an outstanding Tour of California where he won the queen stage and did a fantastic time trial to bounce back from an early time loss to finish 11th on GC. He was on his way to another top result at the Dauphiné until sickness took him out of the race but once again did an outstanding time trial performance. That improved level in the race against the clock could be what allows him to shine in Poland where he will once again lead his NetApp-Endura team. His main objective is the Vuelta but by winning his home Czech Cycling Tour less than two weeks ago, he showed that he is not too far from his best at the moment. Of course the Tour de Pologne is at a completely different level but don't be surprised if the Czech ends on the final podium.

One Tour de France rider has made it onto out list of potential winners of the race. Christophe Riblon won on Alpe d'Huez and was awarded the supercombativity award and by finishing 12th in the final mountain stage, he proved that he is still not too fatigued. He has never targeted the GC in grand tours but often tries to obtain a good overall result in week-long stage races. It is of a course a major question how well he has recovered from the Tour but if he has come out of the race well, the route should suit him well. He may lose a little bit of time in the high mountain stages but has a fast sprint that could see him benefit from the rule changes. As he is also a very good time triallist, he has the versatile talents to shine on this allround route.

Finally, Giro champion Vincenzo Nibali of course deserves a mention. At his best, he would be one of the outstanding favourites to win this race but we doubt that he is competitive at the moment. He hasn't raced since the Giro and often needs a few races to find back his racing rhythm. When he last made the Giro-Vuelta double in 2011, he also used the Polish race as his comeback race and finished a modest 34th. This time he even has to keep his condition for a bit longer as his major objective is not the Vuelta but the worlds on home soil. We are rather sure that he will use this race as a warm-up event and we would be surprised to see him feature at the top end of the GC.

***** Bradley Wiggins

**** Simon Spilak, Sergio Henao

*** Michele Scarponi, Diego Ulissi, Alexandr Dyachenko, Leopold König, Christophe Riblon

** Davide Rebellin, Rafal Majka, Vincenzo Nibali, Rigoberto Uran, Domenico Pozzovivo, Tanel Kangert, Eros Capecchi, Mathias Frank

* Jose Serpa, Ivan Basso, Robert Kiserlovski, Luis Leon Sanchez, Chris Anker Sørensen, Giovanni Visconti, Gianluca Brambilla, Steven Kruijswijk, Ion Izagirre, Pieter Weening