Louis Barré is the dominant force of the sixth stage of the Tour de Pologne, the queen stage from Bukovina Resort to Bukowina Tatrzańska covering 125.5 km. The Frenchman from Visma Lease a Bike launched his attack on the final climb and thus claimed his first career victory among the professionals. Another strong performance from Christian Scaroni who took second place, while German Marco Brenner closed in third. The rider from Brescia at XDS Astana is the new leader of the general classification with a 3-second advantage over Barré, 5 over Lemmen and 11 over Brenner.

THE RACE. Bukowina is a classic finish of the Tour of Poland and almost always hosts the queen stage of the race with its continuous ups and downs. This time the start is very intense, thanks especially to an unleashed Walter Calzoni (Pinarello Q36.5), who on his 25th birthday attacks repeatedly and hunts for points in the mountains classification. In the end, nine riders manage to get away, with Calzoni, Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Alessandro Borgo (Bahrain Victorious), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ United), Magnus Sheffield, Sam Watson (Netcompany Ineos), Steff Cras (Soudal Quick-Step) and Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Picnic PostNL). Calzoni claims the mountain points at Sierockie, Słodyczki, Pitoníówka and the first passage at Ściana Bukovina, effectively securing the mountains jersey with 35 clean points.

The breakaway's momentum fades on the second passage at Ściana Bukovina (1.6 km at 9.5%), just under 40 km from the finish, when two dangerous men emerge from the group: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and Louis Barré (Visma | Lease a Bike), in support of his yellow jersey teammate Lemmen. The two gain about thirty seconds, with Barré almost always passive, and in pursuit XDS Astana and Lidl-Trek launch their chase.

In response, on the final and decisive climb of Ściana Bukovina, Barré attacks in front of Buitrago who had brought him this far, flying off solo. Behind, Christian Scaroni attempts a timid attack, but no one manages to make a difference and the Frenchman crests the climb with a 30-second advantage over his pursuers.

to be updated

STAGE RESULTS

1. Barré Louis (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) in 03:09:03
2. Scaroni Christian (XDS Astana Team) + 10
3. Brenner Marco (Tudor Pro Cycling Team)
4. Dversnes Fredrik (Uno-X Mobility)
5. Laurance Axel (Netcompany INEOS Cycling Team)
6. Lapeira Paul (Decathlon CMA CGM Team)
7. Schachmann Max (Soudal Quick-Step)
8. Fisher-Black Finn (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
9. Kron Andreas (Uno-X Mobility)
10. Romeo Iván (Movistar Team)

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Scaroni Christian (XDS Astana Team) in 24:19:02
2. Barré Louis (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) + 03
3. Lemmen Bart (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) + 05
4. Brenner Marco (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) + 11
5. Christen Jan (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) + 23
6. Fisher-Black Finn (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) + 28
7. Lapeira Paul (Decathlon CMA CGM Team)
8. Kron Andreas (Uno-X Mobility) + 32
9. Sobrero Matteo (Lidl-Trek)
10. Romeo Iván (Movistar Team) + 33