Comeback for Kittel, third time lucky for Izagirre, catharsis for Henao
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Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) wins stage 1 in Poland(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Jon Izagirre with his new trophy(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff-Saxo) wins stage 4 of the Tour of Poland(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Sergio Henao (Sky)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Michal Kwiatkowski and Maciej Paterski on the attack(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The 72nd edition of the Tour de Pologne took place in early August and saw notable successes for Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin), Ion Izagirre (Movistar), and Sergio Henao (Team Sky).
For Kittel it was something of a comeback statement as he sprinted to victory on the opening stage in Warsaw to claim his first win in almost a year after what has been a miserable 2015. The psychological importance of that success is immeasurable but if anything the German ended up being outshone by Italian sprinter Matteo Pelucchi, who was triumphant on the following two stages.
After being runner-up overall two years in a row, Izagirre was finally able to stand upon the top step of the podium in Krakow, having ridden solidly in the mountains and moved into the lead on the final-day time trial. He took the lead from Sergio Henao, who had taken an emotional win in the mountains on the previous day, his first since bouncing back from a 2014 in which he was hit by a suspension and a career-threatening knee injury.
2014 winner Rafal Majka didn’t return to defend his crown but there was still plenty to shout about for the Polish fans. World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski was able to show off his rainbow bands on home roads, while there were two Polish stage winners in Maciej Bodnar and Marcin Bialoblocki, with Kamil Zielinski holding the leader’s jersey for a day.
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