The 69th edition of Dookoła Mazowsza kicked off with two relentless, high-speed stages across the Polish plains. Featuring blistering speeds, volatile weather, and non-stop tactical warfare, our squad took the fight directly to the peloton across both days of racing.
Stage 1: Błonie › Leszno (152 km)
The opening stage delivered relentless speed across its 152 km route and modest 209 meters of elevation gain, starting under bright sun and harsh winds. Tactical aggression defined the day early on, with constant counter-attacks stretching the field to its limits. The decisive moment came roughly 60 km into the stage, when a brutal crosswind section shredded the peloton and allowed a powerful 20-rider group to snap the elastic. Team United Shipping remained sharp, with Erik Fetter jumping directly into the move to represent the squad up front. The breakaway worked cohesively to extend its lead to over two minutes, holding off a late, desperate chase from the peloton to arrive in Leszno with a one-minute cushion. While having additional team coverage in the break would have provided options to launch tactical leadouts or counter-moves, single representation in such an elite split proved critical. With zero mechanical trouble on the day, the front group contested the finish at an astonishing pace, where Rait Ärm of Energus Cycling Team took the stage victory. Fetter weighed a late solo attack inside the final kilometer before unleashing his sprint to take a strong 8th place.
Erik’s sub-three-hour full-gas breakaway
“The stage started with a very hard pace and a lot of attacks again today. As a team, we were racing actively and staying alert. After roughly 60 kilometers, there was a big attack in the crosswinds that I managed to sniff out and jump on. This ultimately became the decisive move. A group of about 20 riders formed, and everyone in the group put in the work, so we made it all the way to the finish. In the sprint, I ended up finishing in 8th place. I wanted to launch an attack about 1 kilometer before the line, but the pace was already so high that I would not have been able to snap away from the group, so I tried to get the most out of the sprint instead. We rode a seriously intense pace all the way through, it was a tough first stage. I have not completed 150 kilometers in under 3 hours many times before.”
Andris finding his rhythm in the wind
“I think the breakaway went clear in the crosswind section. Drakos saw it better because he was further up, I was a bit further back. I guess they stretched the whole thing out and rolled away. After that, in the peloton, there were occasional small accelerations and we slowed down a bit. The others realized too late that the move was going to make it, but luckily we had Erik in there, so we did not have to do much work, just keep good position. It was a good race, very fast and windy. Now my form is starting to come together fortunately, though it is not quite there yet as I still have a few hard training blocks left. For the rest of the stages, I really hope we can keep this up and get someone into the break, hopefully more than just one person next time. The pace is good too, and my only wish is that it does not rain! 🙏🏻”
Stage 2: Grodzisk Mazowiecki Circuit (163 km)
Stage 2 brought 163 km across nine laps on a treacherous circuit. Conditions turned volatile before the start as a sudden cloudburst soaked the tarmac. An early four-rider breakaway escaped, building a three-minute gap while the peloton controlled the pace behind on drying roads. However, as the sky opened up again for the final two laps, the race erupted. After the early break was swallowed, Nikolaos Michail Drakos launched a heroic solo raid with 17 km to go. Fuelling his attack with sheer grit, Drakos carved out a 30-second lead, holding off the charging main field until just 2 km from the line. While the tactical plan was to lead out Márkó Tóth for the bunch sprint, the soaking wet final corner 50 meters from the line caused multiple riders to slide out, turning the finish into total chaos. Paul Hennequin of Euskaltel – Euskadi claimed the victory, while Tóth navigated the carnage safely to take 11th place on another day free of mechanical issues.
Drakos’ caffeine-fueled solo raid
“Every morning I am feeling good as today. I drank before the race an energy drink and a double espresso. I didn’t care about the weather conditions to be honest, I was fully motivated for the race. I attacked in the last lap with 17 km to go with another guy, but after 2-3 km I was solo. I tried to go as fast as I could. To be honest, in the last 5 km I was believing that I could win the race, but when I was on the last big straight, the peloton caught me with almost 2 km from the finish. In the end I was so close, but also so far from the win.”
Csongor braving the cloudburst
“At the beginning, the first attack went clear and they blocked the road, so it was impossible to get into it. After that, we rode very slowly for a lap and they started to control it. At first, the rain did not bother me that much either. After that it was a strong pace all day. I would not say it felt bad, but there were times when you had to push hard out of a few corners. I think I was always in a pretty good position during those moments, trying to move with the others. In the end, when the sky opened up again and we caught the break, it was very intense, I could not see anything from the rain and positioning was difficult too. Sometimes I was able to be up front, but I slid back quite quickly, and then I finished the end pretty much at the back with Erik and Pakot. I don’t think it was a bad stage, but this weather was intense.”
Photo: Marcell Lippai
