Tour de Pologne: Mezgec wins stage 2

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Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) produced a powerful sprint on the downhill finishing straight in Katowice to claim victory on stage 2 of the Tour de Pologne ahead of Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates). Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) placed third to retain the yellow jersey of race leader.

The win was Mezgec’s first at WorldTour level since 2014, when he enjoyed a purple patch that yielded stage wins at the Volta a Catalunya, Tour of Beijing and on the final day of the Giro d’Italia in Trieste.

Mezgec has fulfilled a primarily supporting role since joining Mitchelton-Scott in 2016 but he proved in June that the muscle memory of his sprint days still remains when he claimed a stage win at the Tour of Slovenia.

The finale in Katowice is by now a staple of the Tour de Pologne and one of the most particular on the calendar. The final kilometre or so runs steadily downhill, meaning that many of the usual tenets of bunch sprinting can be ignored. Here, for instance, Mezgec found himself more than 15 riders back with 600 metres to go, but the high-speed run to the line gave an opportunity to move up later than might otherwise be possible.

After Bob Jungels (Deceuncink-QuickStep) swung off with 500 metres or so remaining, it was Trek-Segafredo who took up the reins in support of John Degenkolb, but the German was unable to find the space to make an impact in a rather claustrophobic sprint.

As was the case on Saturday in Krakow, Gaviria opened his sprint from distance, and Mezgec has the nous to follow the Colombian’s wheel. He also had the fortune to find an open gap while the door would shut firmly on others, most notably a frustrated Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep), who found himself boxed in with 200 metres remaining.

Mezgec had hit the front by that point and he proceeded to keep his mammoth gear turning over all the way to the line to claim a resounding victory. Gaviria, back in action for the first time since abandoning the Giro d’Italia with a knee injury, continued his encouraging comeback with second place, while a fast-closing Ackermann – winner here a year ago – had to settle for third place.

That was enough to keep Ackermann in the yellow jersey, two seconds ahead of Gaviria, while Mezgec moves up to third overall, four seconds behind the German.

Danny van Poppel (Jumbo-Visma) took 4th on the stage ahead of Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ), while Max Walscheid (Sunweb) came home in 6th. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) looked well placed on the run-in but was one of many riders who found themselves hemmed in on the finishing straight. Monday’s third stage to Zabrze should provide the fast men with another opportunity.

How it unfolded

Groundhog day on the Tour de Pologne. For the second successive stage, Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) was on the offensive for most of the day in the company of a rider from the Polish national team, on this occasion Pawel Franczak.

The longer stage meant that the break was granted a little more freedom early on, with Planet and Franczak quickly opening a lead of 6 minutes over the peloton. Much like on stage 1, Bora-Hansgrohe soon came to the front of the bunch and set about chipping away at that advantage, while, in time, Deceuninck-QuickStep and UAE Team Emirates put their shoulders to the wheel to help out.

The finale featured three laps of a 19km circuit and on reaching the finish line for the first time with 57km to go, the escapees had just a minute in hand on a peloton that was reluctant to reel them in at such an early juncture.

Instead, Planet and Franczak dangled off the front until after they had taken the bell, and after the Frenchman had hoovered up the point on offer atop the day’s second and final classified climb. As was the case on Saturday, a delegation from Ineos hit the front on the final lap, before Cesare Benedetti put in a fine cameo for Bora-Hansgrohe.

With 6km to go, the Italian’s strength was such that he even briefly drifted clear off the front, and he continued his pace-making duties even after he had been pegged back. Bob Jungels took over on the run-in and led beneath the flamme rouge before the breathless, downhill dash to the line, where Mezgec upset to odds to defy Gaviria and Ackermann.

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