Stage 2 of the Tour de Pologne sees Paul Lapeira shocking the competition with a thrilling uphill sprint win, taking the overall race lead
The second stage of the Tour de Pologne 2022 saw a thrilling finish, with Gerben Thijssen from Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux emerging victorious in a competitive sprint among strong sprinters.
The 149.4km long stage concluded with an uphill climb above Karpacz, providing a challenging finish for the riders. Four riders formed the early breakaway of the day, including Max Walker (EF Education-EasyPost), Patrick Gamper (Jayco-AlUla), Tomasz Budziński, and Patryk Stosz from the Polish national team. The breakaway riders opened a 3-minute lead with 90km remaining in the race.
As the race progressed, only 30 or so riders remained up front. Notable absences included Bob Jungels, Bauke Mollema, and Juan Guillermo Martinez, who had crashed but were not injured. Former French national champion Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-AG2R) put in a strong performance, winning stage 2 and taking a six-second lead over Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) in the general classification.
Lapeira's victory in stage 2 was noteworthy, as he made a winning move later in the race, using a deep anaerobic effort to open a gap and secure his victory. Max Walker won the KOM points on the second passage of the climb after attacking alone with 22km remaining. Victor Langellotti (Ineos Grenadiers) finished third in stage 2.
The race leader going into stage 2 was Olav Kooij, but Visma-Lease a Bike avoided contributing significantly to the effort, allowing Lapeira to take the yellow jersey and lead the race. The results of the race were powered by FirstCycling.
In an interesting twist, while search results from 2025 mention Paul Lapeira winning stage 2 in that year, the confirmed winner for 2022 is Gerben Thijssen. The race continues, with the riders now looking forward to the challenges of the remaining stages.
Sports enthusiasts were thrilled by the exciting conclusion of the Tour de Pologne 2022's second stage, with Gerben Thijssen, a strong sprinter from Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, winning the race. Meanwhile, Paul Lapeira, a former French national champion, displayed an impressive performance, winning stage 2 with a significant lead over Mathias Vacek and securing the yellow jersey.
