Tour de Pologne (st. 7)

Richard takes 8th in grueling final loop around Bukowina, with rain, tough slopes and gravel sections; great support by Pedrero and Carretero as Arcas joins long break after crash on Wednesday.

The 75th edition of the Tour de Pologne was won by the biggest local reference, Michal Kwiatkowski (SKY), who resisted to all moves from his rivals in the 136km hilly circuit race stage 7 around Bukowina Tatrzanska – including a late, dangerous attack from Simon Yates (MTS), who won the stage and got up to 2nd overall.

The Movistar Team featured prominently during this mountain showdown, showing their best legs of the weeks at all fronts. Jorge Arcas was long part of a 19-rider early breakaway, caught with just 30km remaining by a selected main field where Héctor Carretero and Antonio Pedrero supported Richard Carapaz. The Carchi native, briefly on the attack before the hellish 22% slopes of Sciana Bukowina, stayed with the main contenders until the very finish and took 8th in the stage, 16″ behind Yates.

‘Richie’ came just 5″ short to entering the race’s overall top-ten -he took 12th, 49″ off yellow- and certified he’s well prepared for the late season following his success in the Giro d’Italia. Bico, Sepúlveda and Quintana also did well, working hard for their team-mates during the entire week and showing the quality of the youngest side of the Movistar Team’s roster.