Departure place Nowy Sacz is already in the deep south of Poland, but it can get even further south as the riders are about to find out when heading for Zakopane. As the crow flies, the border with Slovakia is only 10 kilometres further.
Riding through the Tatra Mountains, the first 40 kilometres are obstacle-free, but then the asphalt starts to go up and after 100 kilometres in the saddle the first peak at over 1,000 metres is crested. In the next 100 kilometres the riders climb from one peak at that altitude to the other. After cresting the last peak a 10 kilometres drop takes the riders down to the deep finale, which is also uphill.
In 2014, it was home rider Rafal Majka who won the first mountain stage. He took the leader’s jersey and held on to it till the end. In 2015 the Pole won’t defend his title, in a few weeks time he aims at winning the Vuelta.
Race results/stage report stage 5, Tour de Pologne 2015.
Tour de Pologne 2015 stage 5: Route, profiles and more
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