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Strong finish in Poland: Fisher-Black storms the podium on the final day
Finn Fisher-Black finished the Tour de Pologne in second place. The New Zealander achieved this with a strong final time trial, which he also finished second – level on time with Callum Thornley.
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As is so often the case in the Tour de Pologne, just a few seconds decided the outcome of the race. After seven stages, the top 13 professionals were all within a minute of each other.
Finn Fisher-Black finishes the Tour de Pologne on the podium.
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Finn and Aleks in the top 10 of the general classification
In the end, Finn was ten seconds behind overall winner Marco Brenner, and four seconds behind Stefan Küng in the 12.5-kilometre final time trial. This meant he was a hair’s breadth faster than Callum, who finished third on the day. In the general classification, Aleksandr Vlasov rounded off the top 10.
I hope that Poland marks the start of a good rest of the season.
After three flat stages, on which Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel were unable to make their mark as well as hoped, came the days that counted towards the general classification. On the three hilly stages, Finn was always within striking distance of the leaders, although it wasn’t quite enough for a stage win. Eighth, seventh and eighth places saw Finn move up to sixth in the general classification ahead of the final time trial.
Nine out of ten – no team is more consistent
The 24-year-old ultimately capitalised on his strong starting position to secure a place on the podium. Finn’s consistency in Poland is exemplary of that shown by Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe throughout the season. In nine of the ten WorldTour stage races in Europe, including both Grand Tours, a rider from the team finished on the podium. No other team can boast such a record.
Callum Thornley in the time trial at the Tour de Pologne
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Finn Fisher-Black: "I had a good week in Poland. On the hilly stages, I was always right up there at the front, which gave me a good starting position for the time trial – something we’d had our eye on from the very beginning. I can be satisfied with the result, especially after a year that hasn’t been entirely straightforward, with a few ups and downs. I hope that Poland marks the start of a strong rest of the season.”
Cesare Benedetti, Sporting Director: “We came to Poland with several objectives, but our primary focus with Finn was the general classification. On the first three days, we wanted to go for stage wins with Jordi. We were always in the mix in the final, but the sprint didn’t quite work out. On the hilly stages, we were always competitive and would have liked to have taken a stage win with Finn as well. We managed to execute almost everything as we’d planned. After six stages, the gap to the podium was quite small. So we knew we had a chance of a podium finish, but also that it would be difficult to take the overall victory. However, Finn put in a really strong time trial, just like Callum. We had a good atmosphere and put in a strong team performance. Poland is a WorldTour stage race – something that’s sometimes forgotten. A podium finish is never easy there.
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