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Published on Thursday, 01 August 2013 18:48

Tour of Poland Stage 6: 

Bukovina Terma Hotel Spa to Bukowina Tatrzanska, 192kms

I didn't see today's stage, work got in the way, but I am going to enjoy watching it tonight as Thor Hushovd landed another winning bet for me, making it 4 winning stages in a row. Super impressive stuff from Thor who won a slow motion, power sprint to the line. 

Clearly there was a major case of reassessment went on at the bookmakers after they did a bit more homework, as they slashed Hushovd from 18s to 6s late last night as I reported. BetVictor went 12/1 this morning but before I could get some they were already 8/1. I did get matched at 15 on Betfair though as I tweeted this morning, so pretty chuffed to have got that on. 

Riblon and Sanchez, two others that I picked out also tried their best, attacking in a small group of six inside the last 20kms, Their lead never got past about 20" though and they were reeled in well before the finish. Thor waited patiently and shot to the front with a few hundred metres to go. Ladagnous (FDJ.Fr) chased him home with Ratto (Cannondale) in 3rd.  

Stage 5 Profile

The course is 5 laps of a 38.4km circuit around Bukowina, which features three short, sharp climbs. Each one is around 4-5km long, and average around 6-7%, but each one features much steeper sections, with the climb to Gliczarów Górny hitting 21% in parts. The final climb up to the summit finish at Bukowina Tatrzańska has a steep section in the middle, averaging 8.1% for a km but then levels off to be 3.1 average for the final 2kms. 

Henao has been installed as the 9/4 favourite for tomorrow and although it is short it is probably well justified. It looks like it will suit him perfectly and I think he has been waiting for this. He has put in little digs here and there but nothing too serious, but this is a finish that will really suit him and if he has the legs he will be very hard to beat. We saw it in the Fleche Wallone when he chased Moreno home, and in the Volta ao Algarve this year when he attacked on the final climb in the part which averaged 10%, before soloing away from Rui Costa for the win.

Others to consider - Domenico Pozzovivo should also like this finish. He too has been very consistent in the TDP with several top 10 finishes, including today. While he didn't have the power to stay with Hushovd, he will be far more comfortable with this run in. At 33/1 he may go close to the top 3. 

Riblon is 14/1 but I think the steeper finish, coupled with his exploits to date will rule him out of the top 5 on this stage but he will be scrapping for every second of time for the overall. Pieter Weening has been very active too and loves attacking but this could be a little too steep for him. One other to consider would be Santaromita at 50/1 with Bet365 - the current Italian national champion has been quite prominent in the race and with BMC flying after winning 3 stages in a row I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the mix. He won a stage in the Giro Del Trentino outsprinting Tiralongo and Scarponi on a hilly day so he might like tomorrow. At 50/1 he is worth a small interest too. 

So Henao with a reasonable bet at 9/4 and a small e/w bet on Santaromita and Pozzovivo.