A month until the Tour de Pologne, how are things going with the barriers?

A month in the Tour de Pologne, first raced in 1928. The start will be on August 9th from Lubin, and the conclusion will be on the 15th in Krakow.The communications office is doing a great job. Updates are coming in continuously, on the race and on the side events.The latest in chronological order is a race for amateurs that will take place on August 10th in Arlamow. But the Tour de Pologne is also the race in which in 2020 there was Jakobsen's bad fall, Groenewegen's foul, Katowice's arrival too quickly and inadequate barriers. For this and to take stock of the situation we turned to Agata Lang, a pillar of the Lang Team and member of the UEC Road Commission.

Normal situation

Agata has a tone of voice that puts you in a good mood and her usual excellent Italian, while she tells us that theIt's very hot in Poland and it always rains in the afternoon, fortunately away from the floods that are hitting Germany and Belgium.

«Compared to last year it's different – ​​he says – we were the first stage race in the first Covid summer, then there would have been the Tour. We had to figure out how to do it, but now everything is clear. The situation in Poland is quite calm, for now it seems like a normal life. We don't wear masks outdoors, many people have already been vaccinated and all services are open.».

Will there be audience restrictions?

The race will have its fans. They can safely stay on the streets, keeping their distance. For our part, we will try to safeguard the team bubbles at the start and finish. It might not be like what we're used to seeing, but for example at the Tour it's full of people. The public is part of cycling and racing without fans is sad.. I have to be honest, it's a different atmosphere. But the important thing is to work and move forward.. Giving riders the opportunity to run.

Last year you were elected sporting event of the year…

The Tour de Pologne is a historic race, it is 90 years old, so it is important for our public and for the peopleAnd above all, we visit small villages, organizing events for kids, children, and amateurs. It basically involves everyone. 

Last year there was also Jakobsen's crash, but I have to admit you had a good reaction. 

We turned to Boplan and I'm very happy with the collaboration we managed to create, because anyway we now have innovative barriers.

We presented them in April on bici.PRO, a different thing compared to the old barriers…

Ours were by regulation, this does not take away the fact that there are new technologies we care about innovating to implement safetyI'm glad this new opportunity exists. I contacted them as soon as I saw them, when they appeared in competitions in Belgium. Aside from all the technical data sheets I've read, I've also received positive feedback from the riders. They are innovative barriers that they like. And then we also took the totems, because both at the Giro d'Italia and in Hungary we saw that the work of the signallers is risky.At least this way, the staff will also work safely.

Is Boplan really happy to just get sponsored, or did you have to pay?

This is part of the contract, so I don't know if this is information I can disclose. Anyway we have a partnershipThey are also very happy to collaborate with us and we both hope to continue in the years to come, even if logistically it is very complicated.

Why?

You have to understand that a barrier weighs 40 kilos, so six trucks are needed to transport them from Belgium And then they'll need to be installed at the various finish lines every day. It's different than using them in a one-day race.

Is assembly your responsibility?

It's up to us. For transportation we have the help of Drutex, which is our partner. You may know them because they were a sponsor in football. They produce doors and windows, but they have a lot of resources, which they used to help us before. Now they went the extra mile to go to Belgium to recover Boplan's materialsI would like to point out that We already used them in the under 23 race, so we first went to collect them, then we brought them backNow we're going back to Belgium and doing the same thing, but it's definitely worth it.

What is the situation of Polish cycling? 

We are still living on the wave of Kwiatkowski and Majka, though let's hope that new talents emergeFor example, Kamil Malecki, a good guy. Unfortunately, I had a crash in training and he's still recovering. He can do great things, we saw it last year at the Tour de Pologne. We hope that young people will follow in Kwiatkowski's footsteps. and that they bring great successes as he did.

How do you promote the race? 

We do a lot of it. We have national and regional media. We started again with the commercials at the cinemaWe were hesitant because we weren't sure if cinemas would reopen, but in reality it's working very well. Then we have all the signage in the citiesAnd besides that, the most important thing is that we have television broadcasting the entire stage, so it's hours of live television. And then all the websites and all our media partners. In short, if you come to Poland in those days (smiles, ed.), you notice that the Tour de Pologne is taking place…

So all that's left to do is start again?

They were two difficult years for us, but we are ready to face this season. We intervened on the day of Katowice, which will not be a road stage, but a time trialWe've tried to make changes compared to previous years; the first two stages, for example, will be completely new. So, come on, here we go. We'll sort out the last few things, as is only natural considering it's a month before the race, and then all that's left to do is get going again...