Once the stage finished, we asked some of our
writers to share their thoughts and main takeaways about what happened today.

Rúben Silva (CyclingUpToDate)

Extremely dangerous finale. The riders have a say in it but I would expect a race that had only a few years ago a rider almost dying in a final sprint to do their very best to prevent that.

They did not. This was a very fast finale with several sketchy corners in the final kilometer. Adding to that pedals coming off, riders pushed against the barriers, some losing their pedals and Matthew Brennan doing a crazy move towards Fernando Gaviria made it a tense watch. Kooij was the strongest though and deserved the win.

Miguel Marques (CiclismoAtual)

A simple stage, ideal for opening the race. There was some fighting for the intermediate sprints by the escapees, but the sprinters’ teams always kept a tight leash. Soudal controlled the whole day and had no train at the end. In a dangerous finish, it was Lidl-Trek’s young Teutenberg who launched the sprint, but from a long way off.

The Brennan-Kooij pairing was perfect and the Dutchman shot to victory, his 4th consecutive winning season in Poland. Magnier was second and it looked like he had more speed than his rival, but he was badly placed. I expected more from Van Uden, Thijssen and Gaviria, all of whom fell outside the top 10. Also of note was a crash in the final kilometres, which didn’t seem to be serious but did affect Sam Bennett.

Víctor LF (CiclismoAlDía)

Little to say on this first stage of the Tour of Poland 2025. A sprint finish was expected and so it was. Olav Kooij is the best sprinter on the list of participants, he was the favorite and he won. Matthew Brennan, as expected, is Kooij’s launcher on the flat stages.

As for Movistar Team and Colombian cycling, a pity for Fernando Gaviria, who is living a very complicated season but here he had very good chances to fight for a good position until he was disturbed by Brennan in the final sprint. Of course, it goes without saying that he didn’t mean to and that it’s a racing incident, but it’s still fucked up for Gaviria.

Very good also Paul Magnier, who at 21 years old proves in each race that he is part of the present and future of world cycling.

Félix Serna (CyclingUpToDate)

I think the only people who truly enjoy these
kinds of flat stages are the sprinters themselves, and sometimes, not even
them. Just ask Fabio Jakobsen, who suffered a horrific crash in this very race
a few years ago, one that nearly cost him his life. It’s troubling that the
Tour of Poland’s organizers haven’t taken more serious steps to improve rider
safety after that incident, which exposed glaring flaws in race protection and
logistics.

In the end, it feels like the only rider who
truly enjoyed today’s stage was Olav Kooij, he stayed upright, avoided the crashes,
and claimed the win. That makes it four editions in a row in which he’s taken
at least one stage victory here, an impressive feat considering that he is just
23 years old.

The first 190 kilometers of the stage were completely
uneventful, but this was not unexpected at all, given the pan-flat route that
the riders had to face. At least we got
to see a breakaway today, which made things a bit more entertaining for those
of us who watched the entire stage.

I do think it’s a good move by the organizers
to include three intermediate sprints; it adds a bit of spice to otherwise
uneventful stages. In a race as tightly contested as the Tour de Pologne, those
3-second time bonuses can become a valuable prize. I expect the fight for them
to get more intense in the coming days, especially as the general
classification starts to take shape.

Regarding the final sprint, I was impressed by
Paul Magnier’s strength in the last meters. The Frenchman was not in a good
position before the start of the sprint, but he somehow managed to find the
gaps to sprint comfortably. It seems that the team’s new T-Rex jersey has given
him extra energy to sprint.

I believe Visma will be a major player in this
year’s Tour de Pologne. They’ve already secured a stage win and the leader’s
jersey, but there’s still one rider who has a lot left to show. Matthew Brennan
has been one of the revelations of the season, and several stages ahead could
suit his characteristics perfectly. We know he’s a complete rider, not just a
sprinter, but someone who can handle some climbs as well. Let’s see what kind
of show he and his team put on in the coming days. One can only hope today ends
up being the dullest stage of the entire race.

And you? What are your thoughts about what
happened today? Leave a comment and join the discussion!