The Tour de Pologne is a perfect example of a rapidly developing race that is promoting cycling and their sponsors in Eastern Europe. The week-long race is well organised, has excellent television coverage and has major sponsors. Just as importantly the Tour de Pologne is much more than a race, with a mini Tour de Pologne organised for more than 10,000 school children and a mass bike ride organized the day before the official presentation of the teams on the eve of the race. As every national stage race should the Tour de Pologne capture the attention of the whole country and the excitement grows as the final overall winner emerges. In 2006 Germany’s Stefan Schumacher of the Gerolsteiner team beat Australia’s Cadel Evans and Alessandro Ballan of Italy. He scored a total of 56 points in the race thanks to also winning two stages and proved he was the most successful emerging rider in the peloton. The Tour de Pologne clashes with the Vuelta a España in September but many teams seem to prefer riding the Eneco Tour and then the Tour de Pologne rather than spend three weeks in Spain. In 2007 the Tour de Pologne ends just two weeks before the UCI Road World Championships and so is a perfect way to prepare for a shot at the rainbow jersey.