The Route
The race starts off with a flat stage in Central Poland, nothing special to look at with a circuit finish in the city of Katowice with a little drag right before the final kilometer, but one that shouldn't pose much of a challenge for the big riders.
The finish is the same as in Katowice last year where Luka Mezgec won. It's a slight downhill finish, extremely fast, means surprises can happen from riders launching earlier.
The Weather
Some clouds and a slight wind from the northeast. A slight tailwind in the final part of the stage but won't be enough to get a breakaway to be dangerous for sure, and the final straight will also have a tailwind meaning going early will be even more important.
The Favourites
It's a proper start to the race, I expect a fast and very exciting finish disputed by two riders in particular who are the main names for the fast finishes, which will be a duel between Bora's Pascal Ackermann who's coming in with his leadout, and Jumbo's Dylan Groenewegen who isn't, however it's a finish where starting from the front may not be the best option. It's an open finish though, so pure power may not be the decisive factor, in that scenario more names will pop up as strong contenders for the win like Fabio Jakobsen who usually starts his seasons off very well, and also UAE's Jasper Philipsen and Juan Sebastian Molano can mettle in there in the finish.
Ever since the startlist was confirmed there was a change in Bahrain's startlist, Ivan Cortina isn't present but instead Phil Bauhaus, also on a minor scale Mark Cavendish, who should be an interesting sub-plot to the race. Trek's whole classics squad should make for a very strong leadout for possibly and I would assume Edward Theuns, the team's best sprinter here, there's Rudy Barbier leading Israel's squad, a very punchy sprinter who could do well in here, Alberto Dainese for Sunweb, Marc Sarreau for Groupama, Szymon Sajnok racing home with CCC could have a little boost to do really well in here, there's NTT's Ryan Gibbons and John Degenkolb as some more minor names in the startlist.
Finally as a separate point, there's last year's winner on this finish Luka Mezgec, for sure he knows exactly what to do, although he won't have much of a leadout I expect plenty of riders to follow his wheel. There's tons of contenders for tomorrow and realistically almost a dozen riders who could take the win, the finish isn't regular and the riders who will win will have to be in the right place at the right time, but not what you would consider in a regular sprint.
Prediction Time
⭐ Dainese, Bauhaus, Theuns, Sarreau, Sajnok
I'm going with Dylan Groenewegen for tomorrow, he doesn't have one of the strongest leadouts so I reckon he'll be around the perfect place to surprise, and as a heavyweight power sprinter he'll surely like this ultra-quick sprint.
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