VELOGAMES Tour de Pologne PREVIEW 2025

0:00 – 2:56 Stage Profiles
2:56 – 18:29 Velogames

Hey everybody and welcome back to the Aud Cycling YouTube channel where today we’re going to be taking a look at the Tora Palona. It’s a little bit last minute just because the start list took a while to be announced. Important to take a look at the stage profile. So stage one looks like it’ll end in a sprint. Probably Olaf Koi will win this. He looks like the fastest sprinter in the race. Stage two, I think we saw T-Boase win up this climb last year. I can’t remember exactly which stage it was, but it’s one of the only hilltop finishes in this whole race. So, you won’t see big time gaps here uh if any well if the T-Bones victory from last year is anything to go by, but you’re going to see some some gaps emerge amongst the GC favorites, but I don’t think they’ll be that big. You know, a few seconds here or there. Stage three has the most altitude meters of any of the stages. And it just it’s up and down all day. It takes in kind of like a a lapped circuit. And then we go up this climb. 1.2k is at 8.8% and then we have a steady sort of net downhill with a little kick up to the line. But again, I I think this will be a fight amongst GC contenders or and punchers mainly, and it’ll probably end up in some sort of sprint amongst those sorts of riders, or maybe somebody could, you know, shoot off solo, something like that, or a small group gets away from a large group. There’s a few scenarios that could work out there. Stage four, we’ve seen this finish before, I think. I think Marin Vandenber has won here if I’m remember correctly. But the finish line slight drag 8 is 700 meters at 4%. I think that Koi will probably still make this. If they if he doesn’t, it’ll probably be for Brennan, but I think that Koi again will probably do quite well there. Stage five, a tougher stage. We got this 4.1K, 5% climb. It’s unclassified, but that’s going to really create a little bit of a selection, get the sprinters out there. And then we’re going to have a bit of a sprint amongst punchers. Then we’re going to have another I think I think uh T-Bone Nace won up here also last year. Uh Viscania Bina climb 2.5ks at 8% and then 1.8ks at 7.5% a little bit flatter to the finish but again a puncher stage. And then lastly a 12 km time trial a bit of a climb towards the start. So GC contenders with a bit more of a time trial will do do quite well here, but they’ll probably I mean they might put somewhere between I’d say over 12ks. You might you’re looking at somewhere like four or five seconds a a kilometer between a good person and a bad person in a time trial. So you’re looking maybe somewhere between 30 seconds to a minute. But anyway, games we have a lot of expensive riders here actually. So, it’s going to be quite difficult to pick which ones are are the best. But you got multiple riders here who have, you know, can all do well. I mean, all these 18 credit riders you can provide an argument for why they would be a good pick. So, I don’t think necessarily any of them are are bad picks. I would say that my favorite ones are VAT based upon the fact that I think it was a M to Woney which he did recently. He won that. He’s got a really good time trial. It wouldn’t surprise me if he won the TT for last TT. He can climb well. He can sprint decently. He seems to pretty clearly be the leader for Leadal Trek in this race, at least in my opinion. So, I like that a lot. I also like Olysi. He’s got a very good reputation in this race. He’s pretty much always in the top 10. A lots of the stages suit him. He’s got a good sprint, so he can compete in a lot of these stages. Yes, he will lose time in the time trial, but he’s not he’s not a terrible time trialist where he won’t lose too much. So, I think he can still be a top 10 candidate. So, I’d say those two are my favorites. The other ones are still good. I mean, you got McNorty, Sheffield, and Tibari, who I think are all relatively similar in that they can all climb. They can all do a very good time trial, but none of them have a particularly fast sprint, which I think would be quite necessary in a lot of these stages, but they should all be in the top 10 of GC for sure. And then you got Van Hills who although I’d say is very much likely in that he’s a he’s a super good time um super good puncher and he could compete in a lot of stages. He his time trial isn’t that great. So he’ll probably drop quite a few places in GC and that makes him less attractive to me as a pick just because of that. But in theory if he could do a bit of a T-Bone ace from last year he could also be quite good. But if he’s like Tibo Nates from last year, I mean Tibo was 12 credits last year and won three stages. Even if Anne Hills did that, I’m not sure at 18 credits he’d be worthwhile picking. You need somebody who’s going to be up there in the overall GC at the end of the day. And uh his lack of time traveling definitely doesn’t help with that. You got Bill Ba and Pool is the 16 credit riders. I would prefer to go with Max Pool just based upon what we saw at San Sebastian. We didn’t see Bill Bao really doing that much. We also didn’t see Tibari doing that much in that race. It’s worthwhile noting. Paul on the other hand, I think picnic Posanel really need the UCI points at this point of the year. Paul has a decent sprint. We saw that in the ziro. He’s got decent time trial which we also saw in Aziro. And I think that Paul is a pretty safe pick for a top 10 in GC. The 14 credit rider got a few more to be going out. Betty old Brennan Christristen Koi that I mentioned a couple of times when we were looking at the stage profiles and Danny Martinez. I like Brennan, Kristen, and Koi the best. Koi just because I think he’ll he could get two stage wins on what was it like stage one and stage four. But is that worth it for 14 credits? I think that somebody like Brennan can honestly do a decent GC here. The tour of Norway was anything to go by. He can survive these tough uphill tests. he might find a little bit difficult, but I think Brennan is he can also time trial quite well. So I think Brennan’s a really interesting one. Kristen was super good in Van Sebastian. He can time trial pretty good. He’s a good puncher. So I think Kristen’s a really probably one of the ones I’d strongly recommend you picking. Uh Brennan and and Coy, you can kind of take it or leave it if you want to. It’s a bit difficult because Koi will get the absolute sprints. Brennan probably won’t. Brennan will be more for the puncher stages. So, he’s going to need to do really well on those. Uh, if if Koi wasn’t here, Brennan would be an absolute must have, but the fact that Koi is here makes it a little bit 50/50. Uh, Betiel, although he might get his own opportunities, I think they’ll work for for Alysi here cuz again, they love UCI points. And Danny Martinez just haven’t seen that much off. Don’t really know what to I I don’t really have much of an opinion on whether you should pick him or not. He might be good, he might be bad. I just don’t know. Kung, Magne, Micah, and Vandenberg as your twelves. You got I mean Magne and Vandenberg as your more sprinter types. You got Kung, who if he can hang on up the climbs, he could do a good time trial. Uh but you need you really need him to be on his best climbing legs. And then yeah, Magna and Vandenberg kind of similar to like maybe Magna, they could hang on for maybe one more stage. I think like they might hang on for this stage five I would say whereas Koi might not but that’s probably the only advantage they have over Koi but yeah I think both of those should be getting three top 10s realistically in this race the 10 credit riders and you got sprinters in Anukowski Bennett uh Budzinkski decline God those sorts of riders are Vanuden Gerber Tason. Yeah, you got a lot of sprinters here, but I I don’t think the sprinters would be fantastic value for money in this race. I think that Finn Fisher Black is a really interesting one who can time trial. He’s got a good punch. You know, we saw that in the Tour Down Under earlier this year. So, I think that Finn Fisher Black is probably my favorite 10 credit rider. I like God just for his greater versatility. However, he won’t be going for the flat sprints on stages like one and four. Like maybe Bennett will if Bennett survives stage four, he’ll get the nod. Godon is a, you know, a bit 50/50, but I like God nonetheless. Uh Hanor will probably be top 10 in GC. If he was a little bit cheaper, maybe like an eight, I’d be more tempted. Uh but he Yeah, he’s been in decent form. He did go top 10 in a Spanish one day race the other day, so he’s clearly in some some sort of decent form. uh Valta as well. Maybe he’ll be the GC rider for Vizmissa bike, but he is also he’s recently been announced to be signed for well he’s being signed by buying Victorious for next year. Zambini, I swear he was top 10 last year, but he was also six credits last year, so that’s why he’s more expensive. So overall, I would probably go Finn Fisher Black. And then after that, if you needed another one, I’d go with Gondon or Onor or maybe Zambini, something like that. I’d probably stay away from the sprinters just because if Koi wins a stage then you’re automatically like you’re getting further and further down the point scoring scale but good has a bit more versatility about him. The eight credit riders I mean Basato I quite like he’s very versatile. We saw that in Viro that first stage he can survive some really tough hills and can still get a decent sprint in so he could have multiple opportunities. I also like Ethan hater and I know we’re back again with Ethan hater. Is he going to is he is he gonna break my heart again sort of thing. H but hater is a good time trial. He should do good amount final stage as long as he just survives the other stages. He doesn’t need to necessarily score that well but he could still end up near 200 points which isn’t too bad for an eight credit rider. You got Caner and Mckel’s as cheaper sprinters, but Mikuel’s will be competing with Vandenberg. So, there’s a bit of a conflict there. Caner on the other hand gets his own opportunities. Giver as well could has has won a stage of this race in the past. Quentyn Hermans if I think it’s like Jensen Plite will be their flat sprinter, but Quentyn Hermans might do quite well on a lot of these punchy stages, but will lose out uh quite badly in the TT. But if Quentyn Herman is on form, he will likely compete in a lot of these stages and do pretty well. Timon Titenberg I like as well for the flat sprints, but the more versatile sprints, they’ll probably go with that sect to try and get bonus seconds. Vernon as well is another good sprinter to be considering, but probably will only get one or two sprinting opportunities. And yeah, that’s probably about it for the eight credit riders. The other ones are all just a bit kind of fringe GC riders like uh Stanner Mitt, hey, Formalo, George Bennett, etc. They’re they’re all not really that maybe Voazard. He might get a top 15 because he’s got a slightly better time trial. The sixth credit riders, I like Hubarts actually. He was he’s just I think he was like a tour of Norway. Lots of punchy stages there. He was top 10 GC. I think he was also good in that very punchy stage of the tomb which Brennan won. It was like pretty early on in the race, maybe like stage one or two. So, Hubarts I like for this race. I think that he’s uh looks in good form this year. FGO possibly because he can do a decent time trial. Tibo Gruel I like as well. He he is a good he is a good puncher. He can he’ll get involved in the sprints. I don’t think group Palmer really of anybody else. So TBO will be a good pick in my opinion. Six credits you’re not really risking that much. Uh Teimo Keelik, they might sprint with him. They might sprint with Jensen Plite. You just don’t really know. Uh Langelotti, he was also very good in the tour of Norway which I think is quite reminiscent of this race. kind of very punchy short shorter climbs and Langalotti was very good in that race again he will lose out in the TT but at six credits if you can get in some decent scoring from those punchy stages before then it doesn’t really matter that much uh iron liv I like two he was fourth in the Belgian champs road race he can sprint pretty fast the only other sprints in the race for them are Tammanio and Ellie Vivani but Livven has got is a decent puncher. Maybe he could be up there in some of the grippier stages. So, I think that Livians is one which a lot of people will probably skip over, but it’s worthwhile pointing him out. Raasmus, SEborg, Pedison, the Danish champ. I don’t know who they’ll be sprinting for cuz they’ve got Bennett, they’ve got Good Gon, they’ve got Leera, they’ve got Sjsborg Pedison. It could be any one of them really. So, it’s a bit of a risk going with him, but he is the Danish champion and he is a very good rider. Jensen Plite. I think he’ll get the nod on the first stage, but I don’t realistically see him surviving much more than that. No, probably not. No. I think they’ll be sprinting for Magne. There’s also I mean Sabrero maybe just for that final TT. Uh Bart Sang is a decent climber, so maybe he’ll be a top 20 in GC just through, you know, finishing relatively high up in in some of those punchy stages. Tesion I really like just because Mistar don’t have a big GC leader in this race. He was good in Toroni, so I think Tesion is very suited to this race. Lots of stages suit him. So he’s a a good value rider. And that’s probably about it for like the really good ones. Um the then the four credit riders I like Lars Boven. He is a good sprinter. He hasn’t had a very good year and like I said they’ve got Keelick. They’ve got Quentyn Herman’s and they’ve got Jensen Plite. So I don’t know where LZ Boven fits into this this whole plan. But he has been a good sprinter in the past. He has got top 10 in sprints. So he’s a pretty lowrisk rider. And I would say other than him, you’re really looking at just getting assist points or going with one of the Polish national team riders and trying to bank on them getting in the breakaway. That’s that’s really the advice I would give. So in terms of GC assist points, you might go Urbanov for Barahim because they have Bill Bau, Zambanini, and Tari. you might go with uh Stark Lagen because they have Micah Christristen and McNoli. You’ve also got Mhelovich for Bahrain if you wanted to double up on those riders. There’s Yonas because Red Bull have Finn Fisher Black, Maxim Van Hills, and Danny Martinez. So, you could go with him based on those three riders. Uh, Pep Rangeling does tend to get in the breakaway quite a bit just so you might go with him if you fancy chancing uh, your points in the breakaway. And other than that, I’d say in terms of the Polish national riders, there’s a couple of them who I think it’s I’m trying to remember which one it is. I think it’s Pomori. I think Pomoski is one of them. and um Gaj Dulovich. I think maybe they are in the youth or available for the youth classification. So they might get him a breakaway to get bonus seconds to try and finish with in the white jersey on stage one or something. So maybe you might decide to go with them just just on that logic alone. But yeah, other than that, I would really look at just assist points farming. Arthur Cluckers possibly might get a top 10 on that final TT but not much more than that. I would say that’s probably about it for the falls. I’d probably go with assist point farming personally. This is my team. I’ve got yeah Vatzek, Brennan, Christristen, Tesion, Maxpool, Olissi, Hubart, Veralen just for the assist point farming and then Boven just for the hope that he might sprint but realistically it might be a safer idea just to go with like a Milhovich or somebody just for the assist points to be honest. And uh I think this is a decent team. You got the you got a lot of GC riders in here with Alysian Pool Vatken Brennan is a bit a bit of everything. Test Fation I think is a really good value for money rider as is Hubarts cuz they might come top 10 GC if if they’re lucky and then just a couple of falls to fill out the team. Obviously, you know, I’ve in terms of other people I’m considering at the moment, I’d be tempted to take Van Hills instead of Alyssi possibly, but I like Alyssi just because he’s got a good reputation with this race. Like, he just does quite well. I could just go with Koi just to bank in points early on and then put those into my fours to, you know, try and get ideally somebody like try get FinFisher Black in here or if I was trying to get an eight credit rider, I might try to get a hater or or Herman’s for example. But I’m quite happy with this team. I think it’s got a lot of everything going on. And uh yeah, sometimes when I just mess around less with my teams, they do better. But let me know what you’re thinking in the comment sections down below. Is there anybody who I missed that you think that we should all be considering for our teams? Put that all in the comment section down below. And all that is left to say is to stay safe out there and I will see you in the next video. Southern.