As the 2017 Tour de Pologne was a UCI World Tour event, all eighteen UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team into the race. Along with a Polish national team, three other squads were given wildcard places into the race, and as such, formed the event's 22-team peloton.[5] The number of riders allowed per squad was seven, down from eight,[6] in 2016; all teams except Cannondale–Drapac (six riders) did so, and therefore the start list contained a total of 153 riders.
The opening stage of the 2017 Tour de Pologne was a ride around Krakow, effectively designed for the sprinters. Having left from the city's Old Square, the peloton completed an anti-clockwise loop around the city, which contained the only two categorised climbs, in the villages of Bachowice and Kaszów, both fourth category. Once the riders returned to Kraków, they first passed the sole intermediate sprint, before completing three laps around a 4km (2.5mi) circuit, to complete the day's running.
The second stage was another opportunity for the sprinters. After the start in Tarnowskie Góry, the riders headed south-east, passing through the intermediate sprints in Piekary Śląskie, Chorzów and Siemianowice Śląskie, following devious roads before hitting the 17km (10.6mi) finishing circuit in Katowice. It contained the two category four climbs of the day, and the final metres before the finish line headed slightly downhill, with speeds of about 80 kilometres per hour (50mph) expected from the top riders.
After the opening two sprint stages, the next stage took the riders into the Silesian Beskids with a route that favoured the climbers. After a reasonably flat first half, the first category Salmopol was climbed, before the riders entered a circuit containing the Zameczek climb, which was climbed twice. Once the riders had descended, they returned over the Salmopol, going in the opposite way from that climbed previously, with the summit coming 11.3 kilometres (7.0 miles) before the finish line. The final ascent was only 1.2 kilometres (0.7 miles) long, but averaged 11.3%.
With a length of 238 kilometres (148 miles), the fourth stage was the longest stage of the 2017 Tour de Pologne. Having started in Zawiercie, the first section of the route was hilly, covering the sole categorised climb of the day in Olkusz, where there was also an intermediate sprint, with the other two being in Jastrzębie-Zdrój and Rybnik. A finishing circuit was also utilised in the finishing city of Zabrze, with three laps of a 6.5km (4.0mi) long loop being completed to complete proceedings.
The stage started from Olimp Nagawczyna, near Dębica, heading south-east, through the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The route was hilly throughout, with four categorised climbs all coming in the second half of the section – two ascents in Gmina Lubenia and one in Łany (part of the village Matysówka), before the riders entered Rzeszów, where the only intermediate sprint was held. There, the peloton entered the lengthy 22.5km (14.0mi) circuit, to be covered once, and containing another ascent of Łany, the summit coming 10.6km (6.6mi) before the finish.
In the 2017 Tour de Pologne, four different jerseys were awarded. The general classification was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers at intermediate sprints (three seconds to first, two seconds to second and one second to third) and at the finish of all stages: the stage winner won a ten-second bonus, with six and four seconds for the second and third riders respectively.[17] The leader of the classification received a yellow jersey;[18] it was considered the most important of the 2017 Tour de Pologne, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.
There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a purple jersey.[18] In the mountains classification, points towards the classification were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists. Each climb was categorised as either first, second, third, or fourth-category, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. Double points were also awarded for the premier first-category climb on the final stage.[17]
Additionally, there was a sprints classification, which awarded a white jersey.[19] In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 20 in a stage.[17] For winning a stage, a rider earned 20points, with a point fewer per place down to 1 point for 20th place.[17] The fourth and final jersey represented the active rider classification, marked by a blue jersey.[19] This was decided at the race's intermediate sprints, awarding points on a 3–2–1 scale.[17]
There was also a classification for Polish riders,[20] with the highest-placed rider appearing on the podium each day. As well as this, a teams classification was also calculated,[20] in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.
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Peter Sagan (SVK)
Sacha Modolo (ITA)
Dylan Teuns (BEL)
Caleb Ewan (AUS)
Danny van Poppel (NED)
