Sports director Frans Maassen was realistic. “Jos can normally ride a better time trial, but he did not start the race fully fit. Jos has improved every day, so that was a good sign. If you look at his time trial he still lacks a little bit of power, but I am happy that he came through the week in the way he did. Normally you compete for the top ten with Jos, but he himself was satisfied with this time trial. It is just not reflected in the results. Pascal has done very well because he is now tenth in the standings. He has been riding very consistently this week and it’s good for him that he has a good position in the classification.”

Sunday is the seventh and final stage of the Tour of Poland. The peloton will travel on a flat course to Kraków, where the sprinters will have their last chance.

Maassen: “It is expected that there will be a bunch sprint and we will work for that if necessary.”