The course of the 6th stage of the Tour de Pologne was very hilly and it confirmed the good condition of Diego Ulissi. The Italian rider again finished second, this time reaching the finish 8″ behind Henao, who is also the new leader of the overall classification, with the same time as Diego Ulissi in 2nd.

During the 174km around Bukovina the riders climbed 8 ascents, included the final climb to the finish in Bukovina Tatranska. The race was led by a 20-rider breakaway which included Przemyslaw Niemiec. When the bunch raised the speed, the breakaway was neutralized and the peloton was reduced to no more than 15 riders.

Diego Ulissi rode in the front positions and he succeded in being a member of the 4-rider group which chased Henao: the Colombian attacked with 2 km to go and thanks to a great action he could reach the finish in solo fashion while Ulissi sprinted for the 2nd place, beating Craddock, Riblon and Aru.

The situation in the general classification is wide open, so the final time trial in Krakow (25km on flat roads) will be of utmost importance.

“I’m happy because at the beginning of the stage I wasn’t feeling so good. Yesterday was a really hard stage and I was feeling it. But I got back on my feet all right and I’m satisfied," he said. "When we bunched up at the beginning of the climb I hoped we’d stay compact to then play my sprint at the finish, but Henao had better legs; he took off and no one could keep up with him. All I can do is congratulate him.

"Tomorrow I’m going to give it my all in the time trial, fully aware that it’s been two very exhausting days. Everyone is going to be feeling the fatigue but I’m going to try to fight like everyone else.

“The podium will be an awsome result and a prize for the efforts that the team and I have made in Poland. I’m aware it will be so difficult to achieve this goal, because the course for the time trial will be flat and the gaps in the overall classification are very small.

"For what concerns today's stage, my legs were not as good as yesterday but, thanks to the help of my team mates, especially thanks to Mori and an amazing Cattaneo, I succeded in being very competitive and in being in front of the race fighting for the victory, which I only missed because of a super Henao,"