Kristof Vandewalle took the biggest win of his career when he beat big favourite Adriano Malori in the Tour de Pologne time trial. The Belgian champion had been doing his best all race to save energy for this final day and was happy to see his efforts pay off in a big way.

 

The Tour of Poland’s final stage, a 25-kilometer individual time trial, was held in the heart of Kraków, with the start and finish in the spectacular marketplace square. The basic out and back course suited the specialists against the clock: a flat parcours with few corners and long straightaways.

 

It a picture-perfect course for Kristof Vandewalle, who all week had his sights set on the final stage time trial. It also gave Trek Factory Racing the stage win they had targeted in the WorldTour event, and a perfect ending to the seven-day Tour of Poland.

 

“This was a big win," he said. "The Nationals win for me was also nice, but it was a very hard week and this being a WorldTour race – yes, it’s a big win.

 

"This morning we had a four and half hour transfer to the start, so we arrived fairly late. I rode the parcours with Bob [Jungels], and only had a half hour rest before I started my warm up.  It was hard to stay motivated and concentrated on the race with such a long trip beforehand.

 

"The course had long straights up and back, with some gradual uphills, but I never lost my speed. On the way back I had really good speed and legs.

 

"I almost lost everything in the last corner when I almost crashed. It probably cost me two seconds, but in the end everything went right and I have to be thankful that I did not crash. After that I had the stress of waiting until everyone came in.

 

"It was a hard week. It was a long race with some challenging stages. But we suffered and we survived with one goal, which was to have a big result today. I am really happy with my victory.

 

"It was a really flat parcours, we averaged more than 50 kilometers per hour. Some of the roads were a little up and down but I could always keep a good rhythm. In the end I almost missed the last corner, but I had some seconds left. Now I can enjoy this win with my teammates. 

 

Adriano Malori (Movistar) set the fastest time, clocking a 29:21 until the Belgium Time Trial Champion blasted across the finish line and stopped the clock three seconds faster.

 

Vandewalle’s time of 29:18 would land him in the hot seat to endure a nervous, long wait until the final riders completed the course. 

 

“When I knew that I had beaten Malori I knew that I would have a good place. But still I was not sure because the last riders Intxausti, Izaguirre and Majka have shown really good form all week, and I was not sure at all.  I really had to wait until Majka was in before I could relax and know that I had won.

 

"After this race I am off to La Vuelta, and then I will focus on the World Championships, such as the TT. Then, we will see from there. For now I want to enjoy this moment. 

 

"Majka was the best, he was really strong. There was no one who could beat him. To do this after such an impressive Tour de France, he must be a really powerful guy. I think he is a young guy who can really do something special in the future."

 

Malori held on for second place and Stephen Cummings (BMC) rounded out the top three.

 

Bob Jungels also put in a superb ride, finishing 34 seconds behind teammate Vandewalle to finish in eighth place. It was especially notable since he was forced to make a last minute adjustment with his time trial bike under finicky UCI rules.

 

“Bob had trouble with the size limits of his bike today," sports director Adriano Baffi said. "He was disappointed because he rode the whole year with this same bike and then today it was not permitted. But he still had a very good time trial. Maybe without this situation we would have had two in the top five.”

 

“It was strange that they made limits to Bob’s bike," Vandewalle said. "Normally it is not on the limit. Mine was okay, within the limits, so I had no problem. But it was like that – now we know that we need to control a bike before every race to be sure it is good.”

 

The battle for the yellow jersey came down to the wire. Hometown idol Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) made the Polish fans proud, finishing in a time good enough to win the overall by eight seconds over Jon Izaguirre (Movistar). Beñat Intxausti (Movistar) held onto the podium, for third.

 

Trek Factory Racing leaves Poland in good morale. After a week of frustrating results they finally snagged the elusive stage win on the last possible day; a huge boost for the team.

 

“After having troubles, something good comes back always," Baffi said. "We had always targeted the last three days of this race because we had no big sprinter here. Arredondo’s condition was not at the level he had in the first part of the season, so we missed out on the two days of uphill finishes that normally he does very well in.

 

"Yesterday Kristof and Bob went easy to save for today, where we had our last opportunity. Maybe we did not quite reach all the goals we set for this week, but this victory today has made everything good. It was the best possible ending we could have.”