- Özgür Töre
The first UCI World Tour stage race of the restarted cycling season will be the Tour of Poland, taking place from 5-9 August.
NTT Pro Cycling will line up for the 5-stage race with the South African champion, Ryan Gibbons leading the teams charge.
The 2020 edition of the Tour of Poland has seen its stage count reduced from the usual 7 stages to 5 stages, this to accommodate the reshuffling of the professional cycling calendar, which was necessary after the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to racing for most of this year.
The 5-stage race still provides options for both sprinters and climbers, with 3 stages suiting the fast men and 2 stages characterized with numerous sharp punchy climbs.
Gibbons will certainly be taking aim at stages 1, 2 and 5 while his teammates, Ben King, Enrico Gasparotto, Stefan de Bod, Samuele Battistella, Gino Mader & Dylan Sunderland will all be hoping for good legs on the hilly terrain in the south of Poland.
Ryan Gibbons - NTT Pro Cycling said, "After 6 months without racing, I am looking forward to getting the season underway once again, at the Tour of Poland. No doubt the entire peloton is going to be eager to race, and I am certain this will translate into the Tour of Poland being raced at an extremely high level.
One look at the start list and you immediately see numerous grand tour and major classic contenders. This is going to make getting a good result here as equally desirable as it will be difficult.
Our team for Poland is strong and versatile, and while not built to be leading out the sprints, we will play off some of the other teams in the pure sprints. The tougher the stages are, the more it can suit our team and play into our favour."
