Mohorič Maintains Slim Lead Over Almeida Heading into Final Stage of Tour of Poland
Matej Mohorič holds on to a slim lead of less than a second over Joāo Almeida as they approach the final stage of the 80th Tour of Poland. Mohorič’s lead of 12 seconds over Almeida after an impressive individual time trial performance in Katowice remains unchanged. The two riders are tied with a total race time of 22 hours, 49 minutes, 7 seconds, with Mohorič retaining the yellow jersey by a mere 74 hundredths of a second.
Reflecting on his performance, Mohorič stated, “I gave it my best, and I couldn’t have gone one second faster today. I’m really happy because of all the work my teammates did all week. It’s not over yet, but we have a super strong team here, and I have full faith in them for tomorrow to defend the jersey.”
The final stage, a 167-kilometer flat route from Zabrze to Krakow, is expected to end in a bunch sprint. However, with two intermediate sprints along the way offering bonus seconds, the fight for the title is not over yet. Mohorič recalls a similar situation in the past, saying, “The last GC I won, at the Cro Race last year, I was two seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard going into the last stage. But I managed to finish second in the bunch sprint in Zagreb and I took the overall.”
Almeida is the only potential challenger to Mohorič’s lead, with Michal Kwiatkowski 14 seconds behind. Mohorič is prepared for UAE Team Emirates’ attempts to overtake him, stating, “I just have to make sure Joāo doesn’t take any bonus seconds. If he goes for them, so will I. Only he can take the jersey from me, so I will make sure I never leave his wheel all day.”
With Bahrain Victorious aiming for their 12th overall win since the team’s inception, Mohorič is confident but not overconfident, aware of the challenges that lie ahead. He concludes, “If UAE are up for the challenge, then so are we. It doesn’t scare me. Would Joāo be willing to risk a crash with the World Championships only 3 days away? I don’t know, but if he’s up for the challenge, so am I, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t get out of my sight.”
