Top 20 for Planet on the final stage in Tour du Pologne

Race: TDP Stage 5

Date: 9th August 2020

Start/Finish: Zakopane – Krakow

Distance: 188 km

Charles Planet 

That was a fast final stage and it was long! Close to 200 kilometers and hot again, but we came through really well and I am pretty pleased to finish 18th in the bunch sprint against those guys.

I’m definitely not a pure sprinter, but I was in a good position over the final laps and even though the speed was super high and flying out of the corners I managed to follow the moves and kick again in the final.

We wanted more out of the race when we came in, but it was very difficult and personally I didn’t go as well as I expected. The heat played a big part in that with the race being held later in the year than normal and also the lack of racing in the legs.

It is really nice for the team to finish on a positive note though and now the focus shifts to a home race for me at the Tour du Limousin in France next week and I want very much to go well there and be in good form.

Massimo Podenzana

We tried from the start today to get into the breakaway, but the race split into three main groups straight away and when the first move went, we were too far back. Charles tried again to make it across after the first set of climbs, but the pace in the bunch was too high.

It’s been a very difficult week of racing against WorldTour teams in the first WorldTour stage race since the restart and you could see that this time around, we missed having a few months of racing in our legs to compete against these guys. 

Each stage has started with a bang, super-fast and also relentless for the rest of each day and that combined with the heat hit us hard, but we came through as a team and finished the race well. I am proud of these boys and the way they have worked here, it’s a good sign for the next races we have coming up in France and then Hungary.

Next Up:

On Tuesday, August 18th the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team will continue to show what’s possible with diabetes on Stage 1 at the Tour de Limousin – Nouvelle – Aquitaine with a 183.5-kilometer race that starts in Couzeix and finishes in Évaux-les-Bains.

Photo Credit: Rene’ Vigneron