CYCLING – Team Bahrain Victorious rider Antonio Tiberi climbed the podium yesterday following the seventh and final stage of the 82nd Tour de Pologne in Poland.
Tiberi’s result made it four general classification (GC) podiums for the team in the race’s last five editions.
The Italian jumped up one place on the concluding leg thanks to a strong performance in the conclusive individual time-trial (ITT), where he set the fourth-fastest time.
This week-long event on the UCI World Tour calendar was even more demanding this year than ever. In seven stages, the riders covered 926.2km and 15,352m in altitude gained.
The first stage from Wroclaw to Legnica was more dedicated to the fast men, where Bahrain Victorious’ young Vlad van Mechelen showed he can compete with the top sprinters in the race and finished 13th. On the second stage, there were multiple categorised climbs to overcome, and the GC contenders came into play. Tiberi took advantage to end the day fifth in the overall classification, 12 seconds behind the leader.
The 159.3km hilly third stage once again showed the dangers of this sport, where several riders – including Bahrain Victorious’ Jack Haig – went off the road on a dangerous corner. The race was neutralised, meaning that the final 15km were raced only for the stage and not for the overall classification. That day, teammate Pello Bilbao finished second. Despite a hilly parcours, the fourth stage ended in a sprint and nothing changed in the GC.
Bahrain raced more as a team each day, and showed themselves to be one of the leading squads in the race, often controlling the pace of the bunch.
The fifth stage ended in the Tatra Mountains, in the famous ski jumping town of Zakopane, after a long 206.1km. Tiberi maintained fourth on the GC and the same gap of 12 seconds after the finish. The sixth Queen stage was the most interesting to watch, but the most challenging, as they had to crest a category one ascent five times over. Bilbao took third and Tiberi, having received a two-second bonus during the race, took a tight third place in the GC, 20 seconds behind the leader. In the overall standings, Bilbao moved up from 11th to fifth, 24 seconds behind.
The stopwatch decided the winner of the Tour de Pologne on the last day yesterday. The 12.5km ITT, which started with a slight 2.2km climb and then mostly downhill to the finish, was decisive for crowning Brandon McNulty of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who also won the stage, ahead of Lorenzo Milesi of Movistar Team and Matteo Sobrero of Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe.
Tiberi was fourth, which put him on the second step of the final podium. The 24-year-old was pleased with his form during the week. “I have very good feelings, and I’m happy with how I finished this Tour de Pologne,” Tiberi said. “For sure, it boosts my morale ahead of La Vuelta and gives me more certainty about my condition.
“I’m happy with how my sensations grew day by day. I never held back when it came to making an effort, and whenever I had the legs, I tried to attack. I think this will serve me well ahead of La Vuelta.
“I’m very pleased with how the team worked this week. I have to praise everyone here – teammates and staff members – who gave their best from the very first day to support me. They did an excellent job, especially in yesterday’s stage when we knew we had to go for broke. Everybody gave their best, even if some were not at the top of their condition and still suffering from crashes. They believed in me until the end, and the staff members worked for me until late at night. I’m truly grateful for their commitment.”
Bahrain Victorious sports director Michal Golas summed up the race at the end. He commented: “We missed out by just a little bit on the GC victory, but I’m super happy with how the guys worked this week.
“They did an amazing job – it was truly one of the greatest weeks I’ve had with the team. Everybody deserves a share of this podium, as they worked so hard to achieve it. I think we also deserved a stage win, but McNulty proved today that he was the strongest.
“I’m glad that yesterday we really tried to make life hard for him and even tried to drop him. We gave everything, and Antonio performed very well. But, as I’ve said before, the whole team was excellent. It was a great week, with great work and commitment from everyone.”
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