{"id":19746,"date":"2026-08-02T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/19746\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:00:12","slug":"2026-tour-of-poland-what-can-dutch-champion-kelderman-accomplish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/19746\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Tour of Poland | What can Dutch champion Kelderman accomplish?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tour de France has only just finished, but the next WorldTour races are already upon us. After Saturday\u2019s Cl\u00e1sica San Sebasti\u00e1n, the Tour of Poland<\/a> begins on Monday, Aug. 3. A successor to Brandon McNulty must be found, and IDL Pro Cycling looks ahead to the seven-day stage race.The Tour of Poland occupies a place on the calendar between the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a, which helps explain the varied collection of riders on its list of winners. On one side, there are proven stage racers such as Jonas Vingegaard, Jo\u00e3o Almeida<\/a> and Remco Evenepoel. On the other, classics specialists including Matej Mohori\u010d and Micha\u0142 Kwiatkowski have also won the race.Last season, the victory went to<\/a> UAE Emirates-XRG\u2019s Brandon McNulty. The American rode the Tour de France in July and will therefore not return to Poland in 2026.Recent winners of the Tour of Poland<\/p>\n

2025 Brandon McNulty
2024 Jonas Vingegaard
2023 Matej Mohori\u010d
2022 Ethan Hayter
2021 Jo\u00e3o Almeida
2020 Remco Evenepoel
2019 Pavel Sivakov
2018 Micha\u0142 Kwiatkowski
2017 Dylan Teuns
2016 Tim Wellens<\/p>\n

2026 Tour of Poland –\u00a0route, stage favorites, and start timeStage 1, Monday, August 3: Gdynia \u2013 Koszalin (234 km)\"polen-1\"\/<\/p>\n

On paper, the opening stage of the Tour of Poland appears suited to the fast men, although a 1.5-kilometer climb averaging 4.1% late in the finale could disrupt the sprinters\u2019 plans. Under normal circumstances, the sprinters in attendance\u2014or at least some of them\u2014should be strong enough to survive it.<\/p>\n

Favorites
Paul Magnier<\/a> (Soudal Quick-Step)
Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Jonathan Milan<\/a> (Lidl-Trek)<\/p>\n

Times
Start: 10:30 a.m.
Finish: 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Stage 2, Tuesday, August 4: Miedzyzdroje \u2013 Szczecin (150.8 km)\"polen-2\"\/<\/p>\n

On day two, the riders finish just one meter above sea level, while the route never rises much higher than 54 meters. This should therefore provide another excellent opportunity for the sprinters in the field.<\/p>\n

Favorites
Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step)
Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)<\/p>\n

Times
Start: 1:05 p.m.
Finish: 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Stage 3, Wednesday, August 5: Gorz\u00f3w Wielkopolski \u2013 Zielona G\u00f3ra (193.5 km)\"polen-3\"\/<\/p>\n

It is no surprise that so many teams are bringing a strong sprinter to this Tour of Poland. Looking at the course for stage three, we expect the race to end in a bunch sprint for the third consecutive day.<\/p>\n

Favorites
Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step)
Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)<\/p>\n

Times
Start: 12:05 p.m.
Finish: 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Stage 4, Thursday, August 6: Zagan – Karpacz (175.5 km)\"polen-4\"\/<\/p>\n

Stage four finishes in Karpacz, a familiar destination in the Tour of Poland. Paul Lapeira and Thibau Nys are among the riders to have won there in recent years, although this time the peloton must first negotiate a more difficult climb on the approach to the finish.<\/p>\n

Favorites
Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM)<\/p>\n

Times
Start: 12:15 p.m.
Finish: 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Stage 5, Friday, August 7: Opole \u2013 Kocierz (218.5 km)\"polen-5\"\/<\/p>\n

The fifth stage of the Tour of Poland finishes in Kocierz after more than 218 kilometers of racing, with a finale resembling the Mur de Huy. Shortly before the line, the road rises for 1.5 kilometers at an average gradient of more than 11%\u2014a finish made for the punchers.<\/p>\n

Favorites
Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Louis Barr\u00e9 (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG)<\/p>\n

Times
Start: 11:20 a.m.
Finish: 4:45 p.m.<\/p>\n

Stage 6, Saturday, August 8: Bukovina \u2013 Bukovina (125.6 km)\"polen-6\"\/<\/p>\n

The penultimate stage provides a traditional Tour of Poland selection in and around Bukovina. This time, the riders face a stage of only 125 kilometers, but the route rises and falls almost constantly. It promises to be an interesting and potentially decisive day.<\/p>\n

Favorites
Wilco Kelderman<\/a> (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Emirates-XRG)<\/p>\n

Times
Start: 12:40 p.m.
Finish: 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Stage 7, Sunday, August 9: Wieliczka – Wieliczka (12.4 km, time trial)\"polen-7\"\/<\/p>\n

The Tour of Poland concludes with an individual time trial of approximately 12.5 kilometers. The opening 1.5 kilometers climb gently before the riders follow flatter and slightly descending roads toward the finish, giving the strongest time trialists an opportunity to overturn the general classification.<\/p>\n

Favorites
Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step)
Magnus Sheffield (Netcompany INEOS)
Ivan Romeo (Movistar)<\/p>\n

Times
Start: 1:20 p.m.
Finish: 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Overall classification favourites, 2026 Tour of Poland<\/p>\n

The Tour of Poland occupies a place on an extremely crowded calendar, which quickly brings the teams with the deepest rosters into the conversation. UAE Emirates-XRG, for example, brings considerable quality with Jo\u00e3o Almeida, Jan Christen, Beno\u00eet Cosnefroy and Jhonatan Narv\u00e1ez. The race marks Almeida\u2019s return to competition, and an in-form Almeida would normally begin as the leading favorite.<\/p>\n

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has Aleksandr Vlasov and Finn Fisher-Black, two riders capable of handling punchy climbs, longer ascents and the individual time trial. Visma | Lease a Bike, meanwhile, will look to Dutch champion Wilco Kelderman, who should have opportunities to pursue his own result alongside Louis Barr\u00e9 and Bart Lemmen.<\/p>\n

\"wilco-kelderman-2\"\/<\/p>\n

Based purely on their quality, Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain Victorious, Neilson Powless of EF Education-EasyPost, Magnus Sheffield of Netcompany INEOS, Andrea Bagioli of Lidl-Trek and Iv\u00e1n Romeo of Movistar must also be considered. For many of them, however, this will be their first race after a relatively long period away from competition.<\/p>\n

Paul Lapeira and Noa Isidore of Decathlon CMA CGM are also on the start list, along with Victor Langellotti and Alberto Bettiol of XDS Astana, Ethan Hayter, Max Schachmann and Steff Cras of Soudal Quick-Step, Polish home favorite Micha\u0142 Kwiatkowski of Netcompany INEOS and Tudor\u2019s Marco Brenner.<\/p>\n

IDL Pro Cycling top picks, 2026 Tour of Poland<\/p>\n

Top Favorites: Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Dark horses: Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG), and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
Long shots: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Louis Barr\u00e9 (Visma | Lease a Bike), Magnus Sheffield (Netcompany INEOS), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Emirates-XRG), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM), Ivan Romeo (Movistar), and Bart Lemmen (Visma | Lease a Bike)<\/p>\n

Click here to see all the participants!<\/a>TV Tour of Poland 2026<\/p>\n

The Tour of Poland will be available on HBO Max. Eurosport 1 is prioritizing the Tour de France Femmes, but coverage may also be available on Eurosport 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tour de France has only just finished, but the next WorldTour races are already upon us. After…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7332,12444,12447,12445,12449,9,6529,12448,12446],"class_list":["post-19746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-poland","tag-cycling","tag-idl-productions","tag-joao-almeida","tag-jonathan-milan","tag-paul-magnier","tag-poland","tag-previews","tag-tour-of-poland","tag-wilco-kelderman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}