TEAM Bahrain Victorious enjoyed a good day yesterday on the Queen Stage of the Tour de Pologne in Poland.
Although the win was just out of reach, Bahrain Victorious’ Pello Bilbao finished third and Antonio Tiberi advanced onto the overall podium, 20 seconds behind race leader Victor Langellotti.
Yesterday’s stage was, as expected, extremely demanding, as the peloton crossed five first-category climbs in three laps, close to Poland’s southern border. Bilbao’s performance also moved him into the top five on the general classification (GC), and he enjoyed his ride.
“It was a very beautiful stage,” said Bilbao. “A tactical one where you need to be patient, and we had a big fight with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
“In the last part, we were at a disadvantage. There were three of them against two of us, and we tried to be intelligent.
“Antonio was focused on [Brandon] McNulty, and I was focused on [Jan] Christen, but in the end, we couldn’t hold McNulty’s wheel. He took a small advantage, and we also lost the chance to go for the stage win. It was a pity because the guys had been working so hard all week, and today they rode excellently, but we missed the leaders.
“We were at quite a good level, but we couldn’t make it, so we’ll try to do our best tomorrow – we still have chances to win.”
Bahrain Victorious played a major part in chasing down the early breakaway, which was caught 50km from the finish. Positioning was hard fought throughout the stage, as were bonus seconds, of which Tiberi took two.
The team’s seven riders dictated the pace from the front, and with today’s final day an individual test against the clock, Tiberi was satisfied with what the team showed on this penultimate stage.
“I managed to move up to third place in the GC,” he said. “It was a very demanding day, and we knew we had to give it our all, as it was the last chance to try to shake up the overall standings.
“My teammates were fantastic all day long – they did an amazing job, and I have to give them a big thank you. I’m very proud of them.
“In the finale, there were several attacks. I also tried many times to gain something, but the level of the riders here is very high, and I couldn’t make a decisive difference. Then, in the final, McNulty attacked, and I tried to follow him, but in the last 500 metres, I was at my limit.
“I just tried to lose as few seconds as possible until the finish. However, I can’t be unhappy about today because I gave my best, as did everyone on the team, so I’m satisfied with the outcome.”
Despite the day not finishing as he had hoped, Bahrain Victorious sports director Michal Golas believes a great result is still possible as the race concludes today with a 12.5km time trial in Wieliczka.
“We wanted to win the race and move closer in the GC,” he said. “I think the team rode well. We tried a couple of times, and I believe they were good moves, but in the end, maybe in the last two kilometres we should have been a bit calm and wait for the sprint.
“Anyway, I’m proud of the boys and how they rode today. Tomorrow is TT (time trial) day, which is important, so everything is still open.”
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