Thanks to his phenomenal tour de force yesterday, Remco Evenepoel started the final stage of the Tour of Poland in a seat. On paper, the stage towards Krakow seemed to be a prey for the sprinters, but the question was mainly whether competitors Fuglsang and Yates could endanger the final victory of our compatriot.
Although the traditional early breakaway took some doing, eventually a breakaway of five riders was formed, including Luke Rowe. However, the blue brigade of Deceuninck-Quick-Step experienced a quiet afternoon at the front of the peloton, and slowly but surely nibbled at the lead of the five leaders.
In the meantime, Evenepoel sank a little deeper into his seat. He bridged the hilly first part of the final stage without any problems. When the sprinter teams took the lead, the front runners already felt the downpour. With 10 kilometers to go, everything could eventually be redone.
The Italian Davide Ballerini managed to break free at the perfect moment, and narrowly held off Pascal Ackermann and Alberto Dainese. With Evenepoel’s overall victory, the Tour of Poland still ends on a positive note for Deceuninck-Quick-Step.
