Tour of Poland – Jonathan Fumeaux – I want to race aggressively in my Swiss champion’s jersey –

THE SWISS CHAMPION

Jonathan Fumeaux. “I want to race aggressively with my Swiss champion’s jersey,” explains the 28 year old Fumeaux, who celebrated winning the Swiss national road race championships nearly two weeks ago. “I am very pleased to be racing with this jersey for the first time. I will wear it with great pride, and it will motivate me. After my victory, I took a week’s rest, but am now back training and am looking forward to the Tour of Poland. I feel good, and I would especially like to do well on the more demanding stages like five and six where the scene can be set.”

THE GOAL

For Eddy Seigneur, who along with Thierry Marichal will act as directeur sportif for the seven day Tour of Poland, the aim is clear: “We want to fight for stage wins. For most of the guys, it will be the first race they have done since their national championships, and some have recently been at altitude training. The first stages will probably be reserved for the sprinters, and we can hope that we will be able to fight on those days with Matteo Pelucchi. We’ll also have Roger Kluge and Heinrich Haussler on the team, so we have additional fast guys here. The general classification will be decided in the second half of the race. For those stages, we have Jonathan Fumeaux, Stefan Denifl and Larry Warbasse who will be given the opportunity to try their luck. Winning the overall is not a top priority.”

THE RACE

On account of the Olympic Games in Rio, the 73rd edition of the Tour of Poland will take place this year in July instead of its regular slot in August. Between Katowice and Kraków there will be seven stages that will divide the 1190 kilometers among them. In addition to the 18 World Tour teams that will be racing, the event will also field seven wild card teams. A total of 200 riders will be at the start in Poland.

THE COMEBACK

“I am glad that I can finally get back to racing again,” explained Matteo Pelucchi, who was forced to take a break after his time at the Giro because he was suffering from a sub-acute prostatitis. “I am doing much better again, and I have been able to train well. The last two weeks I have been with the team training at altitude. I’m certainly not at 100% yet, but I am not in bad shape. A year ago I was able to celebrate two stage wins here. Let’s see how it goes and whether I can equal those achievements this year.”

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Pictures – IAM / Merot & Ranson