56th Tour de Pologne, Cat 2.4

1998 Results     Route Map     Teams     Past Winners The Stages: September 06 - Stage 1 - Elblag - Elblag, 188 kms: September 07 - Stage 2 - Malbork - Toruñ, 173.5 kms: September 08 - Stage 3 - Ciechocinek - Kalisz, 200 kms: September 09 - Stage 4 - Ostrów Wlkp. - Jelenia Góra, 240 kms: September 10 - Stage 5 - Szczawno Zdrój - Walbrzych, 168 kms: September 11 - Stage 6 - Szklarska Porêba - Karpacz, 171.5 kms: September 12 - Stage 7 - Piechowice - Karpacz, ITT, 23 kms: Preview: Tour de Pologne is one of the oldest tours in Europe. It was established in 1928 and has been held 55 times since. It's the most prestigeous cycling event in Poland. This race allows the sprinters plenty of scope in the first 4 days and there are certainly some good sprinters in the field - Tom Steels, Jan Kirsipuu, Stuart O'Grady, Ivan Quaranta, Nicola Minali, Fabio Baldato, and Tristan Hoffman. Stage 5 and 6 take the riders into the mountains with Stage 6 being billed as the "Queen Stage". The final 23 kms ITT has an uphill finish and is a tough way to finish a tour. Daniel Marzalek who keeps us updated from Poland writes that the final winner is likely to come from Christophe Moreau (Festina) although Lauri Aus (Casino), Raimondas Rumsas (Mróz), Jens Voigt (Crédit Agricole), Etxebarria (ONCE), Roberto Petito (Saeco), Bart Voskamp (TVM), Arturus Kasputis (Casino), Piotr Wadecki (Mróz), Tomasz Brozyna (Mróz), Tobias Steinhauser (Mapei), Cedric Vasseur (Crédit Agricole), Gianpaolo Mondini (Cantina), Gorazd Stangelj (Mobilvetta), and Lylian Lebreton (Big Mat) are all likely to perform well. Daniel also provides some details about the route. In the first 4 days the riders will confront two small climbs - on Stage 1, 40 kms before the finish and Kapela (620 m) on Stage 4 around 33 kms before the line. The terrain turns mountaineous on Stage 5 with 6 climbs although only 3 count for the Mountain's jersey competition. Even the 750 metre climb up the Walim doesn't count which seems strange. Stage 6, the following day, the riders have to climb 6 times up the Karpacz Orlinek (805 metres) but only the first 3 count for the jersey. Strange to say the least when you consider it is the same climb each time. The final ITT also requires an ascent of the Karpacz. Complete Starting List Mapei-Quick Step TVM-Farm Frites 1. Davide Bramati (Ita) 9. Martin van Steen (Ned) 2. Bart Leysen (Bel) 10. Bram Schmitz (Ned) 3. Dirk Muller (Ger) 11. Pieter Vries (Ned) 4. Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) 12. Miguel van Kessel (Ned) 5. Tom Steels (Bel) 13. Bart Scheirlinckx (Ned) 6. Adriano Baffi (Ita) 14. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) 7. Davide Tani (Ita) 15. Bart Voskamp (Ned) 8. Kirk O'Bee (USA) 16. Olivier Asmaker (Fra) Crédit Agricole Casino 17. DNS 25. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) 18. Jens Voigt (Ger) 26. Lauri Aus (Est) 19. Olivier Perraudeau (Fra) 27. Frederic Bessy (Fra) 20. Cedric Vasseur (Fra) 28. Andy Flickinger (Fra) 21. Frederic Delalande (Fra) 29. Arturas Kasputis (Lit) 22. DNS 30. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) 23. Christopher Boardman (GB) 31. Cyril Dessel (Fra) 24. Jerome Neuville (Fra) 32. Innar Mandola (Est) Festina Saeco-Cannondale 33. Florent Brard (Fra) 41. Roberto Petito (Ita) 34. Jonathan Hall (Aus) 42. Giuseppe Calcaterra (Ita) 35. Christophe Moreau (Fra) 43. Mario Scirea (Ita) 36. Rolf Huser (Swi) 44. Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) 37. Franz Hotz (Swi) 45. Francesco Secchiari (Ita) 38. Francisque Teyssier (Fra) 46. Alessandro Guerra (Ita) 39. Alexandre Moos (Swi) 47. DNS 40. Didier Rous (Fra) 48. Harald Morscher (Aut) Cantina Tollo-Alexia ONCE-Deutsche Bank 49. Nicola Minali (Ita) 57. David Canada (Spa) 50. Gianpaolo Mondini (Ita) 58. David Etxebarria (Spa) 51. Moreno di Biase (Ita) 59. Martin Lejarreta (Spa) 52. Marco Villa (Ita) 60. Marcelino Garcia (Spa) 53. Guido Trenti (Ita) 61. Isidro Nozal (Spa) 54. Emanuele Negrini (Ita) 62. Aguado Rebollo (Spa) 55. Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) 63. Carlos Sastre (Spa) 56. Paolo Bossoni (Ita) 64. Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Mróz Big Mat-Auber 93 65. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit) 73. Pascal Lino (Fra) 66. Piotr Wadecki (Pol) 74. Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) 67. Tomasz Brozyna (Pol) 75. Laurent Genty (Fra) 68. Zbigniew Piatek (Pol) 76. Cedric Jourdan (Fra) 69. Piotr Przydzial (Pol) 77. Denis Leproux (Fra) 70. Andrzej Sypytkowski (Pol) 78. Dominique Rault (Fra) 71. Cezary Zamana (Pol) 79. Aleksiej Siwakow (Rus) 72. Marcin Gebka (Pol) 80. Lylian Lebreton (Fra) Mobilvetta-Northwave Agro Adler-Brandenburg 81. Leandro Fioroni (Ita) 89. Stephen Gottschling (Ger) 82. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo 90. DNS 83. Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) 91. Andreas Kappes (Ger) 84. Ivan Quaranta (Ita) 92. Patrick Kohler (Ger) 85. Marco Giroletti (Ita) 93. Martin Muller (Ger) 86. Guido Trombetta (Ita) 94. Olaf Pollack (Ger) 87. Massimo Strazzer (Ita) 95. Ole Sigurd Simensen (Nor) 88. Davide Scalmana (Ita) 96. Thomas Heindrich (Ger) Amore e Vita Recer Boavista 97. Artur Krzeszowiec (Pol) 105. Delmino Pereira (Por) 98. Marco Cannone (Ita) 106. Pedro Miranda (Por) 99. Massimo Gimondi (Ita) 107. Victoriano Fernandez (Spa) 100. Andrea Gurayev (Ita) 108. Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) 101. Manuel Scopsi (Ita) 109. Arturas Trupauskas (Lit) 102. Michele Ferti (Ita) 110. Gustavo Otero (Spa) 103. Tomas Gronquist (Swe) 111. Rafael Ruiz (Spa) 104. Filippo Meloni (Ita) 112. David Bernabeu (Spa) Mixed Italian Lukullus Ambra Opoka 113. Andrea Collinelli (Ita) 121. Bernard Bocian (Pol) 114. Mario Benetton (Ita) 122. Krzysztof Ciesielski (Pol) 115. Cristiano Citton (Ita) 123. Marek Maciejewski (Pol) 116. Adler Capelli (Ita) 124. Bartlomiej Ksobiak (Pol) 117. Mario Trentini (Ita) 125. Marcin Sapa (Pol) 118. DNS - Villa to Cantina 126. Sebastian Wolski (Pol) 119. Mirco Crepaldi (Ita) 127. Marek Wrona (Pol) 120. DNS 128. Dariusz Skoczylas (Pol) Servisco Sprandi Mat 129. Marek Kaminski (Pol) 137. Wojciech Pawlak (Pol) 130. Slawomir Chrzanowski (Pol) 138. Piotr Zaradny (Pol) 131. Robert Radosz (Pol) 139. Artur Krasinski (Pol) 132. Jaroslaw Ryszewski (Pol) 140. Radoslaw Romanik (Pol) 133. Grzegorz Rosolinski (Pol) 141. Przemyslaw Mikolajczyk (Pol) 134. Piotr Chmielewski (Pol) 142. Krzysztof Szafranski (Pol) 135. Adam Wadecki (Pol) 143. Grzegorz Gronkiewicz (Pol) 136. Krzysztof Krzywy (Pol) 144. Jaroslaw Chojnacki (Pol) Thanks to Daniel Marzalek, Poland Past Winners 1996: 1. Viatcheslav Djavanian (Rus) Roslotto-ZG 28.03.46 2. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Roslotto-ZG 2.44 3. Andrea Noe (Ita) Mapei-GB 5.18 1997: 1. Rolf Jaermann (Swi) Casino 33.27.53 2. Zenon Jaskula (Pol) Mapei-GB 0.25 3. Saso Sviben (Slo) Team Radenska 1.02 1998: 1. Sergei Ivanov (Rus) TVM 34.21.25 2. Jacky Durand (Fra) Casino 2.26 3. Fabio Malberti (Ita) Asics 3.10