On day two, the peloton faced a hilly stage with both start and finish in Karpacz. Along the way, four categorised climbs had to be tackled, and the final kilometres also went uphill. Olav Kooij began the stage as overall leader following his win in yesterday’s opening stage.  

From the start, Team Visma | Lease a Bike took control of the peloton. A strong performance from Niklas Behrens, among others, ensured that the gap to the early breakaway remained manageable. On the final climb into Karpacz, the last remaining escapee, Max Walker, was caught by what was by then a heavily reduced peloton. In the tough finale, Team Visma | Lease a Bike pinned their hopes on Matthew Brennan, but it proved just too much for him and the rest of the team.  

“This was unfortunately not the result we had hoped for,” sports director Jesper Mørkøv said afterward. “We rode strongly throughout the stage but came up short in the final kilometres. Niklas did an excellent job at the front of the peloton in support of Matthew Brennan. Matthew was determined to be in the mix today, but in the end he simply didn’t have enough left. Tomorrow presents another good opportunity for him to show what he can do, and we’re looking forward to that.”