August 5, 2026
It's been two days of nailed on sprints and domination by Jonathan Milan. There are many fast men in the field with nothing to show for and today is their last opportunity in the 2026 Tour de Pologne before the GC men come to play. The start in Gorzów Wielkopolski is just across the border with the great German city of Berlin but the riders will be heading South, not West, to get into wine country and their final destination of Zielona Góra. The 193 km stage is again exceptionally flat. There are five intermediate sprints for the break to battle over, three of which contain bonus seconds for the GC and points for the Lotto Intermediate Sprints jersey. Once across the Oder River, the riders will barrel towards Przytok and a 1.1 km hill that averages just over 4%. The summit comes 11 km from the finish which should be enough time for sprint teams to reorganize and set up for the finale. The last few kilometers are far more straightforward than yesterday with the last gently sweeping corner coming around 500 meters to the line.
Race Summary
When the flag dropped, Taco van der Hoorn of Lotto Intermarché was the first attacker but more activity was bubbling behind as the Dutchman dangled around 10 seconds off the front. Unfortunately for van der Hoorn, the peloton shut down and spread wide across the road with only Radosław Frątczak of the Polish National Team sneaking through before the sprint teams clamped down. It took a while but Frątczak bridged up to van der Hoorn with 179 km remaining and the pair began their long journey with a 2 minute advantage. Even though they have been beaten handily twice in a row, T-Rex Quickstep were not giving up and put Ayco Bastiaens back on the front to pull along with Jacopo Mosca of Lidl-Trek.
The break came into Strzelce Krajeńskie for the bonus sprint where Frątczak rolled across unchallenged by van der Hoorn. With just two riders in the move, one second and a few points were still available for those in the peloton. Pinarello Q36.5 sent Sjoerd Bax and Fabio Christen up the road and it was Christen who secured the remnants of the first prize of the day before sitting up and settling back into the bunch.
After the sprint with around 158 km to go, the gap was down to 1 minute 15 seconds so the Polish National Team decided to fire two riders out the peloton to brdge up to the leaders. They were marked by T-Rex Quickstep but more attacks went with plenty of other teams interested. 5 km later, the leaders were in sight of the peloton and the race was reset with 150 km remaining. Groupama-FDJ United, Jayco AlUla, and Visma-Lease a Bike were all quite aggressive and the attacking continued until three riders broke clear. Enzo Paleni of Groupama-FDJ United went away with Dries De Bondt of Jayco AlUla and Jakub Kaczmarek of the Polish National Team and the race went right back to its original pattern with Bastiaens and Mosca holding the pace.
When the gap went to 1 minute 10 seconds, Lotto Intermarché attacked with two riders, van der Hoorn and Jasper de Buyst, and race leader Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek was glued to the wheel. The Lotto Intermarché riders were undeterred and the peloton was unsure what to do. T-Rex Quickstep were the only team to chase and when the Milan group bridged to the front with 137 km to go, the gap was at 25 seconds. When the gap came down to 15 seconds, van der Hoorn attacked the group because the presence of Milan was a killer for the break. Milan knew the game was up and settled back into the peloton with de Buyst and Kaczmarek leaving van der Hoorn, De Bondt, and Paleni up the road.
Mosca returned to join Bastiaens in the chase and pegged the leaders once again around 1 minute which was their gap when they entered Międzyrzecz for the cash prime. Van der Hoorn metronomically rolled through uncontested for the prize and continued driving down the long straight roads. 4 km from the bonus sprint in Świebodzin, Pinarello Q36.5 went at it again with Bax and Christen. Matteo Sobrero of Lidl-Trek latched himself on the back and they were within 15 seconds in no time. Three became six with 71.5 km to go and Bax went straight to the front to keep the group clear through the sprint. Christen jumped to get 3 seconds with Sobrero and De Bondt taking second and third. The peloton were just 30 seconds behind but with the final set of seconds available in 20 km, Bax and Christen wanted to push on to gather those as well.
The gap crept out to 90 seconds and with Lidl-Trek represented up front, Mosca was not working leaving T-Rex Quickstep to do the work. EF-Education EasyPost wanted a sprint so they put a man in the chase with 58 km to go to keep the break in check. Sobrero was a danger man in GC having finished third overall last year so UAE-XRG positioned themselves near the front of the peloton to be close in case they were needed in the chase. When the break reached the final bonus sprint in Sulechów, Sobrero got the jump to take 3 seconds with Christen then De Bondt in second and third respectively.
UAE-XRG did in fact pitch in as did Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Visma-Lease a Bike, and T-Rex Quickstep. The gap was down to 1 minute 20 seconds with 30 km to go but the peloton were having to work quite hard for every second. All of the added firepower eventually had its effect on the gap which was just 30 seconds at 17 km from the finish. De Bondt took an extra long pull up the hill to the KOM line to take maximum points, leading the group through 25 seconds ahead with 11 km to go.
All but Sobrero were committed but desire was not enough to stay clear and the catch was made with 4 km to go as EF-Education EasyPost, Lidl-Trek, and Decathlon CMA CGM were pushing the speed higher and higher. Decathlon CMA CGM persisted on the front through to 1,500 meters to go but burned many of their men off in the process. In contrast, Lidl-Trek had stepped back and came with a renewed energy but only Simone Consonni was left for Milan when they reached the flamme rouge. Tudor Pro Cycling were looking well drilled and took over the pace while sprinters of other teams were trying to find a good wheel to follow for the last few hundred meters. Decathlon CMA CGM used their last man to come over the top with 600 meters to go but he had two NSN Cycling riders on his wheel with Milan, Noah Hobbs of EF-Education EasyPost, and then Decathlon CMA CGM's protected man, Tord Gudmestad. NSN Cycling could not hold the speed when it was their turn to pull so Milan decided to go a bit early at 250 meters. Only Hobbs had the legs to accelerate with Milan and the pair quickly distanced themselves from the rest. Hobbs did his best to come off the wheel at 75 meters but Milan was imperious and confidently crossed the line for his third straight win with Hobbs behind in second and Alessandro Romele of XDS-Astana a distant third.
Milan will lead the race again tomorrow which will be his last day in yellow as we should see the overall contenders come to the front for the first time.