With another British cyclist winning the Tour De France in dominant
fashion you’d be forgiven for forgetting about Bradley Wiggins in the light of
Chris Froome’s glory but his recovery, form, and perhaps future ambitions will
all be truly tested in this year’s Tour of Poland.
The 70th edition of the race has a very different
feel to a typical renewal, with the week long stage race made for the top stage
racers and one of the most difficult renewals in recent memory. Key to deciding
who will win is the opening double header of summit finishes in the Dolomites
and then the individual time trial, which will end the race for the first time
since 2005, with Friday’s rolling parcours to Bukowins Tatrzanska having the potential
to put those on a weak day in trouble.
With the final time trial an undulating one at 37KM, it
looks made for a climber to take this year and with a high class field present
there are plenty of tempting options. Most of the best climbers in this race
come from the Giro D’Italia, which was a particularly brutal renewal this year
with such poor weather conditions, which presents a dilemma for those looking
to side with the best in the race given the poor performances of Giro riders in
the Tour De France this year. However, it would be presumptuous to use that as
an issue given that those riders will have started their racing nearly three
weeks ago and were facing a much higher calibre of opponents than the given
riders here, who should have had enough recovery time to show something close
to their best form here.
With that in mind, dominant Magalia Rosa winner Vincenzo
Nibali is a must bet at 6/1 with Boylesports. A winner of the Giro by almost four
minutes, Nibali was without equal once the race headed for the tougher terrain
following a superb time trialling effort on the eighth stage, gaining summit
position finishes of 3, 2, 7 and 1 the last being a 17 second win to make sure
that he took an open stage of the Giro before winning it.
A superb winner of Tirreno Adriactico before that, there’s nobody amongst the leading contenders that he hasn’t beaten convcingly and the restrictions upon the amount of team members and also the ‘attractively contest’, which I can’t possibly explain any better than ‘The Inner Ring’ does in his Friday Shorts section, may actually suit him, putting the emphasis on the summit finishes which offer time bonuses for the first three home.
Team Sky have anyone of three potential leaders but it’s
hard not to imagine Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran working for Bradley
Wiggins, who himself isn’t a strong enough climber on his own for us to justify
backing him – although we certainly can’t work out why Sergio Henao is
favourite and would much rather be on Rigoberto Uran, the clear Giro second at
prices ranging from 12-14/1.
Tanel Kanget has a big future and will be suited by the
parcours but at this moment in time he too may be attached to his team leader.
The different nature of the climbs here – long in length, but with a moderate enough
incline by professional standards – may bring some in the field closer
together, but it also lends itself to higher speed racing and Kangerts doesn’t
have a patch on a fit and in form Niabli at this moment in our opinion. Back
him for the race and the first stage.
Advice
2 pts each/way Vincenzo Nibali (6/1 Boylesports)
1 pt each/way Vincenzo Nibali for Stage 1 (7/1 Skybet)
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