Martijn Keizer made it to the breakaway for a second day in a row. The 29-year-old rider successfully defended the KOM-jersey during the second stage of the Tour de Pologne. However, Keizer lost the blue jersey for the most active rider. In the end, the Italian Enrico Battaglin sprinted to an 11th place.                

Soon after the start of the second stage, Keizer attacked. “After a successful first stage, Keizer wanted to defend his two jerseys”, stated sports director Grischa Niermann afterwards. “He made it to the breakaway, but his Polish breakaway companions weren’t happy about that. Kurek decided to go solo, while Gradek refused to cooperate in the chase.”

By doing so, Kurek ultimately claimed the blue jersey for the most active rider. Keizer returned to the peloton afterwards. “Unfortunately, the stage didn’t turn out as hoped. When Kurek was in the lead, we ended up in a bad situation. Despite that, Keizer successfully defended the KOM-jersey. In that regard, the stage wasn’t too bad at all.”

Furthermore, Enrico Battaglin could position himself well for the bunch sprint. “It was a dangerous sprint at high speed. Fortunately, no one crashed. We also want to show ourselves the upcoming days. You can score a lot of points for the KOM-jersey in the third stage. So it will be an important day. I’m also curious about the performances of our youngsters during that stage.”