Two stages in the Italian Dolomites, small 6-rider rosters and rule changes that include substantial bonuss seconds for the riders with most points in the intermediate and KOM points, make this year's Tour de Pologne a unique experience. As usual, the 7-stage race is the first step on the long road towards the Vuelta for those riders that didn't race the Tour, and this year is no exception as riders like Vincenzo Nibali, Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran are just some of the riders tat kick start the second half of their season in Poland. At the same time, a certain Sir Bradley Wiggins has started his journey towards the world TT championships with 7 days of racing in the Polish national tour. Starting at 16.30, you can follow today's stage that takes places on a well-known hilly circuit in Zakopane, on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

Today's 192km stage is another Tour de Pologne classic which has played the role of queen stage in the two most recent editions but has to give away that honour to the Italian stages this year. Nonetheless, the hard climbs in the south of Poland offer the climbers one last opportunity to gain some seconds ahead of tomorrow's time trial.

The stage consists of 5 laps on a 38,4km circuit around Bukowina Tatrzanska in Poland's hilly south and it is a very tough one. The circuit consists of three climbs and their subsequent descents with no flat roads in between. The category 1 Gliczarow Gorny (5,5km, 5,7%) is the first and has a tough 21,5% section at its midpoint. Next in line is the category 1 Zab climb (4,5km, 5,8%) which reaches a maximum gradient of 11,5% along the way. The final difficulty has not been categorized but the 5,0km ascent with an average gradient of 4,4% has the finish line located at its top. The third kilometre is the hardest with an 8,1% gradient and an 11,5% maximum but the final two kilometres are much easier at 2,6% and 3,8% respectively. The finish line comes at the end of a long only slightly winding road.

The finish has been used in the three most recent editions. In 2010, Bauke Mollema attacked from a long distance to open up a 7-second gap on a small group at the finish, in 2011 Daniel Martin put 1 second into his nearest chaser Wout Poels while eventual overall winner Peter Sagan lost 13 seconds and in 2012 Sergio Henao was reeled in by Moreno Moser and Michal Kwiatkowski just on the line with the Italian coming out triumphant. The stage may provide some separation between the best riders but it is usually just a matter of seconds. With numerous KOMs along the way, the new rules and the sizeable bonus seconds can really come into play.

If nothing changes today, everything suggests that Christophe Riblon and Ion Izagirre will decide the race in the final time trial which suits the two time triallists much better than the many climbers that occupy spots in the top 10. Until now, Sergio Henao and Rafal Majka have appeared to be the best on the ascents but if they want to win the race overall, they need to take gain some time today. If they wait for the last climb, their potential rewards will be mere seconds and that suggests that they have to make the race hard from the much earlier. It's worth noticing that Izagirre and Riblon are the only GC riders who also raced the Tour de France, and it is questionable whether they are still at their best after another hard week of racing. We can expect a thrilling drama which will be difficult to control for the small 6-riders teams.

Starting at 16.30 you can follow the stage here.