Tour de Pologne (st. 4)

Lobato (16th) struggled in fast, downhill sprint in Katowice, leaves room to Movistar Team's climbing specialists as they tackle two difficult stages in the Tour de Pologne

A downhill sprint with overwhelming speeds -peaking up to 70 kph into the final kilometer- diminished Juanjo Lobato’s (Movistar Team) chances, more accustomed to fought ones or slightly-uphill bunch kicks, in the marathon stage of this year’s Tour de Pologne: 236km from Tarnów to Katowice, now fully in the south of the country after three days crossing the lowlands.

The Andalusian, helped out by the full telephone squad -especially Amador and a great Malori into the final circuit-, was 16th in another day with no clear domination by neither a rider nor a squad -something constant in this week’s racing-. Belgian Jonas Vangenechten (LTB) narrowly beat Jacopo Guarnieri (AST) for the day’s honours.

Thursday will bring the long-awaited mountains, the double round through the Tatr mountains starting with an incursion into Slovakia. The riders will depart from Zakopane and finish with a triple climb towards Štrbské Pleso for a total 190km, where the Blues will surely shine.