Twenty-seven years old, 35 victories: Pascal Ackermann is entering a new phase in his already successful career. Having been faithful since 2017 to the team that introduced him to the UCI WorldTour, the German prodigy revealed by Bora-Hansgrohe is about to turn the page and discover new horizons, as his departure was confirmed at the end of July by the German team.
But before making a fresh start, the sprinter still has great opportunities to build on his record with Bora-Hansgrohe before the season’s end. During the Tour de Pologne from 9 to 15 August, he will find roads that he particularly enjoys; Ackermann raised his arms there four times in 2018 and 2019. After success in two UCI Europe Tour events in July – stage victories in the Sibiu Cycling Tour (Romania) and the Settimana Ciclistica Italiana, where he also won the points classification -, his aim is to win again in a UCI WorldTour event.
The 78th edition of the Tour de Pologne will start on Monday from Lublin, in the centre of the country, and will finish six days later in Krakow after 1,140km of racing against a magnificent backdrop. Sprinters, punchers, strong men and climbers will have seven stages on the menu. The first three stages exceed 200km.
The overall victory is likely to be decided on stage 2, ending on the 15% slopes of the final climb in Przemyśl after a series of two category 2 climbs in the final 30km. They will also battle on the only altitude finish, at the end of stage 4, in Bukovina Resort (945m), before another showdown the next day on the demanding circuit of Bielsko-Biala. The final decision should be made in the 17.9km time trial in the streets of Katowice (stage 6).
The fast men will have two clear opportunities to battle at full speed, but they're likely to have to wait for stage 3 between Sanok and Rzeszow (226.4km) for a first sprint… unless the race scenarios allow them to remain at the front on the hilly final of stage 1, ending in Chelm (216.4km) with an uphill last kilometre with a short section featuring an 8% gradient.
The sprinters will get the last word on stage 7, with a finish in the streets of the Polish capital, Krakow (145.1km) – these are the opportunities for Pascal Ackermann to show off his return to form.
Earlier this summer, Ackermann showed his disappointment when he was not selected to participate in the Tour de France. The sprinter felt that a spot had been promised to him, and he was counting on challenging at the French Grand Tour after stage victories in the Giro d'Italia in 2019 and La Vuelta a España in 2020.
The 2018 German National Champion therefore turned to new goals, with a main idea: to regain the taste for success as quickly as possible, as victory had eluded him since stage 18 of La Vuelta, on 8 November 2020. Riding the Sibiu Tour at the beginning of July, the powerful German sprinter was reassured by winning the prologue and the stage 3 sprint.
Ackermann confirmed his return to form on the roads of the Settimana Ciclistica Italiana (14-18 July), where he won three times and the points classification. Five wins within two weeks was more than enough to boost confidence before facing stiffer competition on Polish roads.
“It was another important step in the right direction," said Ackermann to Radsports-news. "I don't think about the Tour anymore. Now I want to keep my form and win against the best sprinters again.”
Pascal Ackermann will have challenges ahead to string together new successes. The Tour de Pologne always attracts a strong field of sprinters, and this year riders such as Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious), in great form in the Tour de France, the Colombians Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and José Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and the Dutch talent David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma) are expected.
After the Tour de Pologne, Pascal Ackermann is expected will be keen to shine at his home event, the Deutschland Tour (26-29 August).