The GC contenders of the Tour de Pologne were expected at the front from the opening stage this Monday. In the uphill finish in Karpacz, a first selection did take place, and Romain Grégoire got himself in the mix to grab a fine seventh place on the line, six seconds behind the clear winner Thibau Nys. No rest for the favourites, who will face a crucial uphill time trial on Tuesday.
A short but rather dynamic start was on the menu for the riders on Monday on the 81st Tour de Pologne. From Wrocław, 156 kilometres were to be covered, but the final in Karpacz was expected to be quite explosive with a two-stage climb in the last seven kilometres. The rest of the stage, however, proved very calm as a four-man breakaway led the way with Jaan Maas (Jayco AlUla) as well as the Poles Szymon Sajnok (Q36.5), Michal Paluta (Santic-Wibatech) and Norbert Banaszek (Mazowsze Serce Polski). “The day was rather easy,” confirmed Yvon Caër. “We knew that we were just heading towards a tense and tight money time.” The group of fugitives therefore never put the peloton in trouble, and the gap gradually closed in the last third of the race. Maas and Paluta were the last men standing up front but were caught with eight kilometres remaining, just before the so-called “money time.” “Everyone was committed around Romain,” continued Yvon. “I was especially pleased to see that they took the lead at seven kilometres, which was the key point. Romain was very well positioned by his teammates. This showed great team spirit, and that’s what we wanted to see”. “The team worked really hard to put me in the right conditions,” added Romain. From that point on, the young Frenchman never lost his place at the front, despite the big tempo set by Jonas Vingegaard’s teammates (Visma-Lease a Bike) and the first attacks.
“The best possible result with today’s legs”, Romain Grégoire
With three kilometers to go, the riders tackled the second part of the climb, and Romain Grégoire bided his time alongside the other favorites while a duo made a small gap. The uphill sprint eventually started 300 metres from the finish, Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) left no chance to his opponents, but Romain Grégoire fought well to take seventh place, six seconds behind the Belgian. “In the last kilometre, the legs really did the talking and I couldn’t do better than seventh today”, said Romain. “I didn’t feel super great, but it wasn’t too bad either. I think I got the best possible result with today’s legs. I was still hoping for a bit more, and I was clearly aiming for victory on this type of finish that suits me very well, but it will just be for another time. I hope I’ll have other chances this week.” “The result is good,” claimed Yvon. “For a comeback race, it was a great effort. I think he didn’t make any mistakes. He was able to give his 100% but there was still some pretty strong competition. Above all, I’m really confident about the next two days that will also suit him. I’m also confident about his consistency to stay in the mix, even hoping to move up another notch.”
Overall, Romain Grégoire is in seventh place on Monday, sixteen seconds behind Nys. Tomorrow, another very important day will be on the menu with a 15.4-kilometer time trial, partially uphill. “Some gaps were already made today, and tomorrow, the last seven kilometers of the time trial are the same as the last seven kilometers of today”, Yvon specified. “The general classification will most certainly be quite settled tomorrow evening.”
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