The last stage with the finish in Krakow did not change the podium of the 78th Cracow Cup of Tour de Pologne. The Portuguese Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step) became the winner of the race, and third place was taken by the best of the white-and-red riders – Michał Kwiatkowski (INEOS-Grenadiers). We got to know the winners of all the classifications. One of them was won by a representative of Poland.
The Saturday individual time trial in Katowice decided who will stand on the podium. As expected, the last stage from Zabrze to Kraków did not change the general classification. Unexpectedly, there was no sprint finish. Dutchman Julius van der Berg (EF Education-Nippo) won from a four-man breakaway.
For the second time in a row, the winner of the race was a rider of the Deceuninck-Quick Step group. 23-year-old Portuguese Joao Almeida 23 pursued Belgian Remco Evenepoel. He won the stages in Przemyśl and Bukowina Tatrzańska. The second place with a loss of 20 seconds went to the Slovene Matej Mohorić (Bahrain-Victorious). The third place was taken by Michał Kwiatkowski, over whom the triumpher finally had a 27 seconds’ lead.
Thus, the Pole completed the places on the podium. He won Tour de Pologne in 2018 and took second place in 2012.
Already on Friday, the first place in the mountain classification was taken by Łukasz Owsian (the Polish National Team). He only had to get to the finish line in Cracow. He repeated the feat of Patryk Stosz from a year ago.
Kwiatkowski was still in with a chance of a second career win in the sprinters’ classification. He lost only one point to the leading Almeida before the seventh stage. He had to arrive ahead of the Portuguese, at least in 19th position. Unfortunately, he was the only 24th. This meant that the white jersey also went to the winner of Tour de Pologne. His team also proved to be the best among all the competing groups.
The best youngster was 19-year-old Ben Tulett (Alpecin-Fenix), ninth overall. The Briton received the 2019 Bjorg Lambrecht Award, named after the tragically deceased.
TOUR DE POLOGNE 2021: FINAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Joao Almeida (Portugal/Deceuninck-Quick Step) 26:15.53
2. Matej Mohorić (Slovenia/Bahrain Victorious) +0.20
3. Michał Kwiatkowski (Poland/Ineos Grenadiers) +0.27
4. Diego Ulissi (Italy/UAE Team Emirates) +0.37
5. Mikkel Froelich Honore (Denmark/Deceuninck-Quick Step) +0.53
6. Tim Wellens (Belgium/Lotto Soudal) +0.57
7. Jai Hindley (Australia/Team DSM) +1.06
8. Dylan Teuns (Belgiumium/Bahrain-Victorious) +1.25
9. Ben Tulett (Great Britain/Alpecin-Fenix) +1.28
10. Pascal Eenkhoorn (Holandia/Jumbo-Visma) +1.30
…
41. Maciej Paterski (Poland) +5.36
46. Piotr Brożyna (Poland) +8.59
56. Maciej Bodnar (Polska/Bora Hansgrohe) +12.13
67. Łukasz Owsian (Poland) +15.51
74. Patryk Stosz (Poland) +18.34
80. Łukasz Wiśniowski (Poland/Team Qhubeka NextHash) +19.30
83. Tomasz Marczyński (Poland/Lotto Soudal) +20.01
86. Michał Paluta (Poland) +21.18
106. Michał Gołaś (Poland /INEOS) +30.13
107. Michał Paluta (Poland) +32.12
115. Stanisław Aniołkowski (Poland)+34.05
TOUR DE POLOGNE FINAL MOUNTAIN CLASSIFICATION
1. Łukasz Owsian (Poland) 50 pkt
2. Emils Liepins (Latvia/Trek-Segafredo) 30
3. Jonas Rickaerts (Belgium/Alpecin-Fenix) 22
TOUR DE POLOGNE FINAL SPRINTER CLASSIFICATION
1. Joao Almeida (Portugal/Deceuninck-Quick Step) 84 pkt
2. Michał Kwiatkowski (Poland/INEOS Grenadiers) 83
3. Matej Mohorić (Slovenia/Bahrain Victorious) 80
4. Diego Ulissi (Italy/UAE Team Emirates) 69
5. Phil Bauhaus (Germany/Bahrain-Victorious) 50
TOUR DE POLOGNE FINAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE MOST ACTIVE CYCLIST
1. Taco van der Hoorn (Netherlands/Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux) 14
2. Jewgienij Fiodorow (Kazakhstan/Astana) 6
3. Edward Theuns (Belgium/Trek-Segafredo) 5
…
6. Michał Paluta (Poland) 4
TOUR DE POLOGNE FINAL TEAM CLASSIFICATION
1. Deceuninck-Quick Step 78:51.42
2. Alpecin-Fenix +1.52
3. Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux +2.20