Riders on the Tour of Poland paid their respects to the Holocaust victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau with a short ceremony outside the gates of the concentration camp on Friday.
Before the start of stage six of the race, the 175 riders slowly pedaled about 12km from the nearby town of Oswiecim to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then, in near-silence, removed their helmets in front of some 50 spectators for the ceremony.
One rider from each of the 34 countries present on the race, as well as Tour of Poland leader Dan Martin of Ireland, laid a single white rose each at the gate.
PHOTO: EPA
“I’m a big fan of history and I realize how important it was to do that homage,” Martin told reporters. “It was an incredible moment, very touching, and I hope we did it justice. To be able to do that in the yellow jersey was very special.”
“We all know what Auschwitz is and to think about everything that could happen there makes your hair stand on end,” 2006 Tour de France champion Oscar Pereiro said. “I think that today’s homage is like a tiny grain of sand in the middle of a desert and however many homages you do, it isn’t going to wipe out what happened, but I think it’s right they do it.”
Later, Dutchman Bauke Mollema survived thunder and lightning to claim his first stage victory in the Tour of Poland’s toughest mountain climb, while Martin held on to the overall lead.
The 23-year-old Rabobank rider peeled away from a small group of riders with 2.5km to go as he raced to the uphill finish in Bukowina Tatrzanksa. Switzerland’s Michael Albasini was second, seven seconds adrift, and Slovenian Grega Bole finished third.
Martin crossed the line in seventh place, nine seconds back on the rain-soaked 228.5km stage, concluding with two laps of an 11.8km hilly circuit in the remote Tatry mountain region.
The Irishman continues to lead with a margin of just eight seconds over Bole.
Mollema said he had to weigh up his options during the roller-coaster final part of the course.
“I was sixth yesterday and I wanted to go at least a couple of places higher than that,” said the Dutchman, who climbed to third in the overall standings. “There was a fast, dangerous descent where I could have attacked, but the flat afterwards was too long for me to be able to stay away, so I had to time it well. I’ve moved up overall as a result too, but I don’t think I’ll be able to fight for the race outright.”
Race leader Martin was satisfied after a stage peppered with short, punchy climbs made more difficult by the poor weather conditions.
“There were thunderstorms, lightning, it tipped down with rain for ages, it was like the Apocalypse had started,” the Garmin-Transitions rider told reporters. “If it had started raining again, I don’t think anyone would have finished. In the last 60km, everyone was attacking us, but we held on.”
Martin’s rival Bole crashed in the wet conditions meters after the finish, but said later his injuries were only slight.
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