Kasia Niewiadoma: ‘I’m really gutted as I was aiming this stage’

By Monica Buck

The 27-year-old Polish rider and We Love Cycling expert crashed at the base of the last categorised climb. Making it back to the front group cost her a lot of energy. In the end she finished sixth on the stage but didn’t lose any time on the favourites and sits in third in the general classification.

“I was hoping for the victory, of course, like every time I race,” she was quoted by cyclingnews.com. “So it’s just frustrating to feel like I made exactly the same mistake again.

“I feel like I keep trying to reach out in a way that, in my mind, I would be able to surprise others by starting to sprint from behind with some speed instead of being in the second position and going for it. I feel like maybe impatience is kind of popping into my mind every time.”

 

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On the other hand it looks like Kasia is in a top form unlike some of her rivals. Annemiek van Vleuten is battling an illness and lost time again on stage three.

“I feel good,” she said. “I feel like these stages suit me very well so far. This is like Classics-style racing, I feel like naturally, I’m quite good at it. So hopefully, I will be able to carry it on until the end of the week.”

“I changed my training programme, where I focused more on saving my power for the races and not spending it all in training. I’m feeling fresh and ready.”

“I believe what Taylor [Phinney – ed], my partner, always says, that I may not be winning much, but with my consistency, I can get a good result. So hopefully with all those stages where I get a top five, say, I can at the end get a good podium spot.”

“I’m happy that I am still involved in the GC and that after crashing I didn’t lose too much time.”

Next up is a bit of gravel on the stage four and it looks like Kasia is up for the challenge.

“It’s cool. Like, why not?” she said. “I feel like cycling is changing and it’s impossible to please everyone. I feel like gravel roads allow you to discover more of your abilities or bike skills, and I feel like it’s just adding an extra thing that somebody enjoys and somebody does not, and it’s okay.”

“And we all have to accept that because, as I said, it’s impossible to please everyone. And again, why not have gravel?”