Don't miss a moment of the next WorldTour stage race
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Pascal Ackermann edges out Alvaro Hodeg on Stage 1 of the Tour de Pologne(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tour de Pologne winner Dylan Teuns flanked by runner-up Rafal Majka and third-placed Wout Poels(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A fan watches the Tour de Pologne peloton roll by.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The WorldTour continues this weekend with the 76th edition of the Tour de Pologne, and we know you won't want to miss a minute of the race. What better way to cure your Tour de France hangover than to watch some high-powered, full-on cycling action? Cyclingnews has the keys to finding the best live stream in your location – and if you are OK with Polish, the TVPsport.pl stream is absolutely free in just about every country.
The race is sure to have a new winner this year as defending champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Ineos) needed rest after helping his team take the top two spots at the Tour de France in July, while runner-up Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) heads to the Clasica San Sebastian and third-placed Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) is out with an injury that knocked him out of the Tour while sitting in fourth place overall.
The Tour de Pologne is often decided by a handful of seconds, with suspense until the final moments of the last stage and a parcours that favours puncheurs and riders willing to go on heroic attacks.
The first two stages are suited to the sprinters, the peloton charging into the finishing straight dwarfed by the many inflatable advertising balloons that line the course. The first stage in Krakow builds excitement with three 4km finishing loops with ever increasing speed in a spectator-packed city circuit. With fresh legs and only 132km behind them, the sprinters will be fully charged and going flat out to claim the first race leader's jersey.
Look for Deceuninck-Quickstep's Fabio Jakobsen to go head-to-head with Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates).
The second stage will also be eyed by the fast men but with a 180-degree turn 1km and a slight rise before the line, there could be an opportunistic attack that can foil the sprinters. The 150.5km stage 3 to Zabrze could be another bunch sprint, with four closing circuits of 6.2km each giving the lead-out trains plenty of time to plan where to launch their protected sprinter.
The climbers come to the fore on stage 4, with a 173km stage with four categorized climbs before ending on a 3km climb that kicks up to 17.2 per cent and continues at a punishing 15 per cent grade to the line. The profile of the final three stages look like sawteeth, with the last day ending on a climb reaching up to 11.5 per cent.
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Cyclingnews will have full coverage of the seven-day race, with reports, photos, results and news from every stage, but you can find a live stream to watch from most regions with English commentary.
How to watch:
The Tour de Pologne will be available on Eurosport with basic Sky TV packages or with a Eurosport Player monthly or annual pass which also allows you to access the live stream from just about any internet-connected device. You can try it out for free.
The 2019 Tour de Pologne will be streamed live on Flobikes.com in North America. Flobikes.com has a vast calendar of cycling events on its live streaming schedule. It costs $150 annually or $30 on a month-to-month basis.
How to access live streams that are geo-restricted from your region
If you try to watch a localized Tour de Pologne broadcast from abroad, you'll quickly find that the coverage is geo-blocked. However, you can still access it by simulating being in the broadcast country via a 'virtual private network' or VPN.
TechRadar tested hundreds of VPNs and recommends the number one best VPN currently available as Express VPN. With ExpressVPN, you can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets etc.
Check out Express VPN and get 15 months for the price of 12.
