The city located in Upper Silesia hosted a stage finish for the first time this century.
Laurens De Plus continues to be the best placed Quick-Step Floors rider in the general classification a the Tour de Pologne with two days to go, sitting in 13th after two stages that have reshuffled the standings following three straight days in which the sprinters took the spotlight and the spoils. A top 10 finisher this season at the Tour of California, Laurens is followed in the rankings by teammate Dries Devenyns, giving Quick-Step Floors two options for the upcoming mountain stages.
Wednesday's story was written on the demanding circuit in Bielsko-Biala, where the peloton – after reeling in the seven day-long escapees – kept the speed high and prevented any attack, before the reduced bunch sprint on the uphill and challenging finish were the GC riders fought for the win and the bonus seconds. Yellow jersey Michal Kwiatkowski was the one to seize the moment, after fending off Dylan Teuns (BMC) and Enrico Battaglin (LottoNL-Jumbo) in the closing 200 meters.
The penultimate stage of the Tour de Pologne will take place between Zakopane and the now traditional finish of Bukowina Tatrzanska, over a 129km course jammed with 12 categorised climbs.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
