NEW IN 2017: 7 RIDERS PER TEAM AT THE START OF THE TOUR DE POLOGNE – UCI WORLD TOUR.

Warsaw, 20 June, 2017 – Through their General Director Czeslaw Lang, the organizing committee for the Tour de Pologne – UCI World Tour has officially announced that every team lining up for the start of the 74 th edition of the Polish stage race, scheduled from July 29 th to August 4 th , will be made up of 7 riders. That’s one less rider than in the past. Based on this decision, with 22 starting teams (18 Pro Teams + 4 wild cards), the Tour de Pologne group on the starting line in Krakow on Saturday, July 29 th , will consist of a total of 154 riders.

“We believe that this choice, which was approved by the UCI, can contribute to guaranteeing better safety in the race, a very important aspect that is always in the news headlines; it also plays a significant role in rendering the race even more exciting, especially in certain phases. For example, with one man less on every team, it could become more complicated for the group to control the race and catch up with fugitives. Besides us, the organizers of other World Tour races are moving in this direction. After all, it means a lot to me to remind people that the Tour de Pologne, which has always been attentive to new trends, was already a pioneer in this one when some seasons ago, in 2013, we adhered to a pilot project in association with the UCI that lined up teams of 6 riders at the start. I have always sustained that it is essential to evaluate everything and try anything that can contribute to the safety of the riders and that will make our sport more spectacular, obviously within the limits allowed under the rules and regulations and over all using good sense,” explains Czeslaw Lang, General Director for the Tour de Pologne.