The Tour de Pologne is central Europe's only WorldTour series stage race, and is also its country's biggest cycling event. A week-long race featuring bunch sprint and hilly stages, it is traditionally decided by very small time gaps, where bonus seconds can be crucial.
Having started in 1928 as an amateur race and now in its 80th edition, in 1993 it became a fully professional-only race, before joining the WorldTour series in 2005.
Run by the Lang organisation since 1993, three riders hold the record for three wins in the event: Dariusz Baranowski, Andrzej Mierzejewski and Marian Wieckowski.
ast year's race was won by Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) after finishing close behind Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) on stage 3's uphill finish, then a strong time trial performance on stage 6 netted the Briton the lead. Second overall was Thymen Arensman (DSM) and third Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious).
Join Cyclingnews' coverage of the 2023 Tour de Pologne with race reports, results, photo galleries, news and race analysis.
Tour de Pologne 2023 route
Celebrating its 80th edition, the 2023 Tour de Pologne starts in the western side of the country with a circuit stage in Poznan designed for the sprinters, then heads south to the mountains on the Czech border before heading east towards its traditional finish in Krakow.
Other standout features include an uphill finish at Orlinek in the town of Karpacz on stage 3 as well as a tough series of climbs to a more familiar finish at Bielsko-Biala on stage 4.
This year it once again features an individual time trial, as well as a traditional finish in Bionie Park in Krakow, where the race is set to end until at least 2026.
Tour de Pologne startlist
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Tour de Pologne contenders
Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) headlines the foreign challengers in this year's Tour de Pologne as the Portuguese racer, third overall in the 2023 Giro d'Italia and the winner of Pologne in 2021, starts his second part of the season here.
The local opposition will be headlined by Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), an overall winner in 2018, second in 2012 and third in 2021, while Rafal Majka, who took Pologne outright in 2014, will give UAE Team Emirates a second option beside Almeida.
The headline name for the race's multiple bunch sprints will, for a second year running, be Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma), winner of a stage last year.
Tour de Pologne Schedule
Tour de Pologne teams:
- AG2R-Citroën
- Alpecin-Deceuninck
- Arkéa-Samsic
- Astana Qazaqstan
- Bahrain Victorious
- Bora-Hansgrohe
- Cofidis
- DSM-Firmemich
- EF Education-EasyPost
- Groupama-FDJ
- Human Powered Health
- Ineos Grenadiers
- Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
- Jumbo-Visma
- Lidl-Trek
- Lotto-Dstny
- Movistar
- Novo-Nordisk
- Poland
- Q36.5
- Soudal-QuickStep
- Tudor
- UAE Team Emirates
