Tour de Pologne 2026 route: Stage-by-stage guide

The 83rd Tour de Pologne will take place from August 3 to 9, covering 1,111 kilometres across seven stages. This year’s route follows a clear north to south direction, beginning in the coastal city of Gdynia and ending with an individual time trial at the Wieliczka Salt Mine, near Kraków.

The opening three days offer opportunities for sprinters, breakaway riders and puncheurs, with Stages 1 and 3 in particular open to several possible scenarios. The general classification contest will begin in earnest on Stage 4, when the race reaches the mountains and finishes in Karpacz.

Two further climbing stages follow, including the traditional queen stage around Bukowina Tatrzańska. The overall winner will then be decided during a short individual time trial on the final day.

The 2026 Tour de Pologne begins with its longest stage. Starting beside the Baltic Sea in Gdynia, the peloton faces 234 kilometres through the rolling landscapes of Pomerania and Kashubia on the way to Koszalin.

The profile contains more than 2,000 metres of climbing, making this a demanding opening day despite the absence of major mountains. Three intermediate sprints are positioned in Kartuzy, Bytów and Polanów, while several special primes should give the early breakaway plenty to target.

The key moment comes on Góra Chełmska. This category 3 climb is situated only six kilometres from the finish and provides an ideal launchpad for late attacks. The ascent may also remove some pure sprinters from contention, leaving classics specialists and more versatile fast finishers to contest the opening victory.

After the long and hilly opening stage, the peloton remains close to the Baltic coast for a considerably more straightforward day.

The race starts in the seaside town of Międzyzdroje before heading towards Szczecin across predominantly flat terrain. At just over 150 kilometres, it is also more than 80 kilometres shorter than Stage 1.

Intermediate sprints in Kamień Pomorski, Nowogard and Goleniów will animate the route, but the sprinters’ teams should have little difficulty controlling the race. Barring strong winds, crashes or a perfectly timed late attack, the first conventional bunch sprint of the week is likely in Szczecin.

Stage 3 takes the race away from the coast and into the Lubuskie region, connecting Gorzów Wielkopolski with Zielona Góra.

Much of the 193.5 kilometre route is rolling rather than mountainous, but the increasingly difficult finale could produce a more selective outcome.

The category 3 climb at Przytok is positioned only 12 kilometres from the finish. It is not long enough to create major general classification gaps, but it could encourage attacks from puncheurs and put any sprinters struggling with the gradient under serious pressure.

This is therefore one of the most tactically open stages of the race. A reduced sprint, a late solo move or a successful breakaway are all realistic possibilities in Zielona Góra.

The battle for overall victory begins properly on Stage 4, the first genuine mountain stage of the 2026 race with over 2,400 metres of elevation gain.

Starting in Żagań, the route gradually rises as it moves into the demanding terrain of Lower Silesia. The opening part of the stage should allow a strong breakaway to form, but the final section contains the climbs that will shape the general classification.

The first classified ascent comes at Antoniów. The race then takes on the more difficult climbs at Borowice and Karpacz, with the final mountain prime located four kilometres from the finish.

After the category 1 climb in Karpacz, the riders descend briefly before the road rises again to the finish at Orlinek, where the punchier climbers should come to the fore.

By the finish, the race should have a clearly defined group of overall favourites.

There is little opportunity to recover on Stage 5. At 218.5 kilometres, it is the second longest stage of the race and ends with another uphill finish.

The peloton leaves Opole and travels towards the Beskid Mountains. Mount St. Anne provides an early category 2 test, but a long section of rolling terrain separates it from the decisive climbs later in the day.

The category 1 Przegibek Pass is the key climb, coming inside the final 40 kilometres and setting up the run to the finish.

Following the descent, the road rises again towards Kocierz Resort. Although the Tour de Pologne has previously passed over this climb, the 2026 race will feature its first stage finish at the resort.

The combination of distance, climbing and an uphill finish could make this one of the most attritional days of the week.

The queen stage of the 2026 Tour de Pologne is short, intense and packed with climbing.

Only 126 kilometres separate Bukovina Resort from the uphill finish in Bukowina Tatrzańska, but the route contains 2,850 metres of elevation gain. There will be no room for the general classification contenders to hide.

After an early intermediate sprint in Biały Dunajec, the peloton enters the Tatra terrain and tackles mountain primes at Leszczyny, Słodyczki and Pitoniówka.

The defining feature of the stage is the Bukovina Wall in Gliczarów. Classified as a category 1 climb, it will be ridden three times as part of the finishing circuit. The repeated steep efforts (2.5 km with an average gradient of 8%) should steadily reduce the group and create opportunities for aggressive racing.

Even after the final ascent of the Bukovina Wall, the climbing is not over. The stage ends with another uphill drag into Bukowina Tatrzańska, offering the strongest climbers one last chance to gain time before the closing time trial and follow in the footsteps of previous winners Rafał Majka, Remco Evenepoel, Simon Yates and João Almeida.

The 2026 Tour de Pologne concludes with a short individual time trial beginning and ending at the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

The opening 1.5 kilometres climb gradually before the course moves onto flatter and slightly descending roads for the return towards the finish. It is a short test, but riders can still gain or lose valuable seconds depending on their strength against the clock.

The same location played a decisive role in 2025, when Brandon McNulty won the final time trial and secured overall victory. Any climber carrying only a narrow advantage into the final day will therefore need an excellent performance to defend the leader’s jersey.

After six stages of sprinting, rolling terrain and repeated mountain tests, the race against the clock will provide one final and potentially decisive general classification showdown.