Ulissi takes 2nd after uphill battle in Poland

Diego Ulissi came within a fraction of winning the hotly contested uphill sprint on stage 2 of the Tour de Pologne.

There was some strong teamwork to control the race, particularly from Mikkel Bjerg who dropped Covi and Ulissi to the front of the bunch and kept the pace high and deterring any attacks before peeling off with 3km to go.

Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep) hit-out early at the base of the final climb with only Ulissi able the haul in the flying Portuguese rider.

The duo then battled it out to the line as the steep finish forced the riders to dig extremely deep in the slow motion finish.

Almeida narrowly pipped Ulissi to take the win and also now takes the leaders jersey with Ulissi in 3rd at 4’’.

 
Ulissi: “I felt really good today. The team worked perfectly and got me into an excellent position approaching the last climb.The legs were good on the final ramp, it was very steep and tough and I was beaten by a stronger rider on the line. Almeida deserved the win today but personally I’m pleased with my ride and the team performance and we will look ahead to the next few stages. ”

The team will now turn the focus to Stage 3 from Sanok to Rzeszów (226.4km) which will be the longest day of the race.

 
Stage 2 results

1.Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep) 4:41:33
2.Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t
3.Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) s.t

General Classification after stage 2

1.Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quickstep) 9:42:47
2.Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) +4’’
3.Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t