Poland's national stage race, the Tour de Pologne which begins on Monday, will make a quantum leap from its original incarnation when it hosts the 24th round of the UCI ProTour.

The event began as an amateur race in 1928 but has now risen to the highest echelons of pro cycling.

Four of the top 10-ranked riders in the individual ProTour rankings - series leader Danilo Di Luca of Italy (Liquigas), Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile), American Bobby Julich (Team CSC), and Italian Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) -- will be among those on the start line in the northern Polish city of Gdansk Monday.

From the Baltic port, best known as the city that gave birth 25 years ago to the Solidarity trade union, the riders from road racing's 20 best teams, plus two Polish line-ups, will head south towards the Karkonosze mountains on the Polish-Czech border, to the sports resort of Karpacz.

Their journey will take them 1246km (747 miles) across Poland. The first four stages, are generally flat, favoring sprinters, with the last four, including a split stage on the final day, September 18, taking the race into the mountains.

Those who know the course say the sixth stage, on Saturday, is likely to be decisive, with the riders covering six laps of 21.7km each around the picturesque town of Karpacz, with 450 meters of climbing on each lap and a 320-meter uphill finish.

Sunday's split stage features a mass-start 61km in the morning, starting in Jelenia Gora, taking in two laps on the rolling circuit around Karpacz and the same uphill finish to Orlinek as the previous day.

The short stage was decisive in securing overall victory in the 2002 Tour de Pologne for French rider Laurent Brochard, and was a key stepping stone to the overall win last year for Czech rider Ondrej Sosenka.

On Sunday afternoon, the riders tackle a 19km time trial starting in Jelenia Gora and finishing again on the climb to Orlinek, 800 meters above sea level.

The Tour de Pologne is the final stage race on the ProTour calendar and could be decisive in giving victory in the series to Di Luca or Vinokourov, currently separated in the overall rankings by just 48 points.