Quick-Step Floors continue to lead World Tour rankings after season's 28th event.
Final stage of the Tour de Pologne (Bukowina Tatrzanska – Bukowina Tatrzanska, 132.5km) was also the hardest one of the 74th edition, consisting of three laps of a tough circuit that included several climbs which were expected to take the sting out of the riders' legs. That's why the overall contenders bided their time and didn't attack until the penultimate classified ascent of the day, when the original breakaway which featured Petr Vakoč was swept by the main group.
The hostilities continued on the last climb of the race, as attacks flew from the leading group, but without any of the riders being capable of dropping the other favourites and soloing to victory. Eventually, the stage came down to a reduced sprint, won by Wout Poels (Team Sky), while race leader Dylan Teuns (BMC) kept hold of the yellow jersey for a mere two seconds ahead of Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe).
Bob Jungels – who made his first appearance in over four weeks at the Tour de Pologne and immediately showed his good condition by taking third on stage six – finished the challenging seven-day race in 12th place, a result that helped Quick-Step Floors retain the top position in the World Tour rankings, which our team leads ever since Yves Lampaert scored an emphatic win at Dwars door Vlaanderen, four months ago.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
