Quotes after stage 5 of Tour de Pologne 2013

Remeber the new classification in the Polish race? UCI thought of making the event more attractive and created a special classification. Just to remind you - riders take points on the climbs and intermediate sprints. Points for other classifiacations are counted as they always have been. But for each of the climb and sprint top3 gets points (3-2-1). At the end of a day they sum it up and the rider with highest daily score gets 30 seconds bonus. 2nd gets 20 seconds and 3rd gets 10.

Ion Izagirre after stage 4 was 9 second down on Rafał Majka (Team Saxo-Tinkoff), the race leader. Basque rider took 3rd and 10 seconds bonus and so he is now the leader.

Majka: I lost the jersey but it doesn't change anything for me. I'm concentrated on tomorrow's stage. I've been riding in leader's jersey for 3 days, today it's a matter of 1 second. we'll see how it plays out, 1 second could be a enough but it's not much. I fought to defend the lead but Izagirre took points on the climbs and sprints and succeeded. The race is hard to control, there were moments when I really didn't have the legs to chase. But I will be fighting to win Tour de Pologne. Izagirre is not a rider that gives up, he's strong and will also be fighting for the win.

Tomasz Marczyński (Vacansoleil-DCM) became mountains classification leader after long breakaway and taking points on five climbs. He has a slim, 2 points, lead over RadioShack-Leopard's Thomas Rohregger. Marczyński won four categorized climbs yesterday and is looking forward to stage 6 with 10 first category climbs.

Tour de Pologne is the first test for 29-year-old who has just recovered after the operation he underwent in March. Tomasz is preparing for la Vuelta where he hopes to repeat his performance from 2012. 

I just wanted to try something, to attack - Marczyńki said after the stage. That's me - when I'm in a breakaway - there's always an objective, I'm not riding there for the sake of doing it. Today the goal was to take the jersey. Before the penultimate climb I didn't believe it's going to happen - the peleton brought us back and I wasn't really at the front. I managed to make one more effort and sprinted for the points. 

I've already achieved more than I wanted in  this race. My shape is getting better and better. After Tour de Pologne I'll take a couple days of rest. My next race will be Tour de l'Ain, then again some rest and easy training rides. And the Vuelta.

Marczyński finished 13th in Vuelta a Espana in 2012.

TdP 2013: Franczak fought WT riders despite early crash and swollen hands

BMC's Thor Hushovd won stage 3 of 70th Tour de Pologne, claiming his 4th victory of this season. Norwegian champion did a brilliant job, using his longtime experience and outsprinting Mark Renshaw and Steele von Hoff on the roads of Rzeszów.

It was good to see Michał Gołaś finishing 7th but when I saw the bunch taking the final corner, I already knew the rider I'll be talking to. Polish National Team is participating in the race and they have only one man who is capable of fighting in the sprint.

21-year-old Paweł Franczak finished 16th in a bunch sprint. Many people will say: "Oh, 16th, really? Nothing to talk about. "Mostly true - the place is not impresive, there aren't many top sprinters here butI think he deserves to be mentioned.

Franczak has never competed in such a race. He is currently racing for Polish Continental team Wibatech Brzeg, taking part in races on Polish roads. This year he won the last stage of Carpathian Couriers Race, finishing this international U-23 event with powerful sprint and beautiful victory in Tarnów. In June he took 4th in Polish Nationals in U-23 road race, participating in the action of the race along with Łukasz Wiśniowski.

Considering his lack of experience and  to such races, he did pretty well. His first reaction: The weather has really put us through the wringer. I was feeling good, I even managed to get involved in one of the early breakaways - together with Łukasz Bodnar we bridged to attacking riders but the peleton didn't want to let us go.

Franczak, who has never participated in such a race, at such a high level, tried to save a much energy as possible during first two stages. Mountain roads of Dolomites are not the terrain for him, as he prefers to focus on classics or hilly stages. 21-year-old spent some time in grupetto and finished the first part of the race unscratched. Polish roads and two flat stage seemed to be much more suitable for him. Unfortunately, the crash ended his plans of a good position in the final sprint. When I called him after the  stage, he was waiting for the tests results in the hospital.

I wasn't lucky - slippery roads and nervous moves in the peleton caused a crash. I went down, got a lot of bruises. My hands were in terrible condition, really. I was even thinking of abandoning the stage - it looked awful and hurt so much that I thought several fingers are broken - Franczak told me.

I really wanted to get to the finish - participating in this race is a  dream come true for many Polish riders. I managed to get to Rzeszów. The pace was very high, the rounds technical and dangerous. I tried to stay at the front and despite pain take part in the sprint.  I finished 16th. Well, truth to tell, I'm disappointed. I know I had the legs to be in top10 but after the crash I was felling really bad, as I had problems with handling my bike. 

Franczak recovered well and even took part in a breakaway on the next stage. When we talked in Nowy Targ yesterday, he seemed much more optimistic and the hand injuries turned out not to be that serious.

Two podium spots for Haba and Kasperkiewicz in one week

I thought it's a good idea to write something about two Polish U-23 riders, currently racing in the Netherlands. I mentioned them before in my summary of Polish Nationals but today's entry is only about them. I know, it's Tour de Pologne time and not many people are interested in small U-23 races but in my opinion it's worth writing about them, even in a diary form - talented riders don't come out of nowhere and some time ago there was hardly any young Polish rider racing in Europe. These days we watch Majka and Kwiatkowski scoring great results and building their position in pro peleton - perhaps in a couple of years more Polish riders succeed and will be able to spread their wings on the rough seas of professional cycling.

So today - two races and two stories - two WV De Jonge Renner riders - Przemysław Kaperkiewicz and Grzegorz Haba.

Sunday, July 21st

Grzegorz Haba finished 3rd in Kerniel Classic - Belgian one-day race. 21-year-old Polish rider survived the heat and twenty 5.3km rounds, participating in the crucial move and taking podium spot after the finish from a small breakaway.

Timothy Stevens (Team 3M) claimed victory and Sam Lennertz (United Cycling Team) sprinted to 2nd.

photo credit: Otwarte Drzwi/WV de Jonge Renner

I was feeling very good. 8 round before the finish line a small group formed and I was lucky to be there. We worked really well but 2 laps before the end the attacks started. I thought: "it's now or never, if I miss it, I may lose the sprint". When the attacks started again on the climb, I waited and launched my counter attack just before the summit - Haba described after the finish.

 
Haba was glad to race on such demanding and hilly route (2 hills, one about 500 m long and the other twice as long). The last lap was only 3.7 km long and the ultimate obstacle was the shorter climb. Only two guys managed to stay on my wheel, we broke clear and made it to the line. I was working very hard for the whole race, so I lacked in energy in the sprint and only took 3rd place. But I'm really happy with that, my legs were responding well and I deserved to be on the podium for the whole effort - he said with a smile.

Sunday, July 28th

Przemysław Kasperkiewicz won Ronde van Ransdaal, small race or criterium in Ransdaal. The event consisted of forty 2.3km laps and undulating terrain made it a selective and tough race for U-23 riders. Polish U-23 time trial silver medalist was active since the begining of the race, riding in the front group and launching an attack in the last 10 km. He then managed to win two-men sprint for the line, beating Bram Nolton (Craford Cycling Team). Sjors Roosen (Cycling Team Jo Piels) finished 3rd.  

photo credit: Otwarte Drzwi/WV de Jonge Renner 

We broke away after 5 rounds and there were 6 of us at the front. I thought it's a good situation - we were working together well and the whole action had the chance of succeeding - Kasperkiewicz told me after the race. 10 laps before the line we had 1:10 on the next group. I knew I have to attack earlier, and I did - 4 laps before the line. There was only one rider on my wheel in the final. Last corner was tricky - I needed to take it well and be in the first position to win.

Kasperkiewicz is slowly thinking about Florence and U-23 time trial. This win shows that I'm in good shape but it's far from my best. I'm training and preparing for the World Championships in Florence. I hope to be selected for the national team and represent Poland in Italy - 19-year-old declared.

Kasperkiewicz and Haba will be racing in Poland in mid-August - their team is set to participate in two classics - Memoriał Henryka Łasaka (10.08) and Puchar Uzdrowisk Karpackich (11.08).

Tour de Pologne 2013: stage 1 preview

Tour de Pologne or Tour of Poland starts today and it's time to upload some more info about the stages. I decided not to write the whole preview (I already did in Polish) but to post basic information about every stage plus some interesting stories about places the race visits. I will be reporting some of the stages on site, so I'll try to do kind of a coverage - quotes and stuff like that. 

As I'm sure you already know, 2013 Tour of Poland is not exactly the race you'd expect it to be. It's 70th edition but the thing is that it starts in Trentino, Italy. Peculiar for a one-week race to start so far away from place of its destination, isn't it?  

Why Italy? Many reasons are given - longtime historical and cultural connection between both countries and desire to organize real mountain stages are the most obvious. Race director - Czesław Lang grew up as a cyclist in Italy and has always dreamt of visiting the country with his national race. Trentino region also benefits from the organization.

Many of you may not know that but by "longtime historical and cultural connections" date back to late 18th century, when, after the Third Partition in 1795, Poland stopped exiting as a country and disappeared from maps for 123 years. In the wake of Napoleonic era, many people, including soldiers, emigrated to France, Belgium and Italy. In Italy Polish army was formed and so called "Polish legions" fought on Bonaparte's side, hoping that when Austria, Prussia and Rusia lose the war, Poland will be rebuilt. Polish national anthem was composed in Italy and there are several references to this moment in the lines of Dąbrowki's Mazurka. The line "from the Italian land to Poland" is used by the organizers as race motto.

There's also one more connection between two countries - pope John Paul II who lived in Italy for many years and contributed to the growth of interactions between both nations.

Winning a mountain stage today, at the very begining of the race, is cool, there are a lot of riders in the peleton who would like to do so. But remember, teams only have six riders, so, in my opinion, if somebody is thinking about standing on the podium in Kraków, he won't be really eager to take the jersey on today's stage. Leading the race means responsibility and puts rider (and his team) in the position where they have to chase the break down and control the race - the task that is not so easy when you have 6 riders and tough mountain stage ahead.

The Route

Stage 1 starts from Rovereto and it's not a typical stage of Tour de Pologne we used to see in recent years. In fact, it looks more like a stage of Giro d'Italia or Giro del Trentino and whether you like it or not, it's going to be a challenging day, one of the key points of the race in the fight for the general classification.

The first climb of the day - Fai della Paganella (10,8 km; 7%) - emerges after almost 50km section. The profile shows only three categorized climbs but when you look at the second part of the stage, you'll see Passo del Ballino - uncategorized ascent, also around 10km long, leading to the 2nd category climb of Passo Durone (5 km; 6.1%). The ultimate challenge is a well known climb of Madonna di Campiglio (8,5 km; 6.7%, max. 10%), where riders will battle for the stage win.

There are three intermediate sprints and one "special sprint" on today's stage - the first one is on a flat section before Fai della Paganella, the second one is on the descent and the last one will be contested at the foot of the last climb. 

Main contenders

With new race rules and six riders per squad it's extremly hard to pick today's winner. The difficulty of the stage and mountain finish should be suitable for climbers and all-rounders. Vincenzo Nibali could be in the mix, as he has the chance to fight in front of his fans from Italy. Colombians - Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao cannot be underestimated when it comes to mountain finishes. Depending on their legs and state of preparations to the main goals of the second part of the season, we may witness another Colomian charge on the slopes of Italian climbs.

When it comes to picking a winner, I wouldn't rule out Simon Spilak and Darwin Atapuma, my today's favourite, however, comes from Switzerland and has recently won two stages of Tour of Austria.

There are also Polish riders who climb well and I won't be suprised if one of them gives it a go today. Rafał Majka seems to be in pretty good shape - he's preparing for the Vuelta but promised to fight. Movistar's Sylweter Szmyd wasn't selected for the Tour de France squad and now wouldn't mind trying some kind of solo action on the last climb.

The stage starts pretty late - 1:30pm and the riders are expected to cross the finish line between 6:21 and 6:45pm. Such late hours are nothing new - I presume that it's all because of the number of people watching - 7:30pm is an hour of daily news program in TVP (Poland's main public broadcasting corporation) that is also responsible for the coverage of the race.

European Road Championships: Kasia Niewiadoma 5th in women U-23 road race

Olomunec, Czech Republic, July 21 - Katarzyna Niewiadoma finished 5th in women U-23 road race during European Road Championships in Olomunec. Polish U-23 champion managed to stay in the small group of riders who survived the early selection and score her first very good result at international level.

Susanna Zorzi of Italy claimed victory, finishing her team's job by launching an attack on the final climb and winning gold medal after solo action. Her team mate - Franceca Cauz took silver, coming to the line a handful of second later.

Niewiadoma, who currently rides for TKK Pacific Toruń (the same club where Michał Kwiatkowski started his carrer), managed to stay in the head of the bunch and take 5th place in the sprint from the first group that reached the line over a minute after Italian duo.

The 126-km route consited of 11 laps, with a 1km climb in the final. 94 U-23 women signed the startlist, 7 Polish National Team members included.

The begining of the race was calm, the very first attacks started on the climbs. I didn't have any problems, everything was under control. I even managed to break away with one of the Italian riders but it only lasted a while - Niewiadoma described the early laps.

After sereval laps, a lot of riders were dropped and there were only about 20 of us at the front. Last rounds were nervous - attacks all the time, launched especially by Italian team. The last climb was crucial - the group got shattered very quickly. I tried to stay with the leading competitors but I didn't have the legs to make it to the podium - Polish double U-23 champion said.

Niewiadoma's 5th place turned out to be Polish highet score during the Championhips. What is worth mentioning - this is her first year as U-23 and so she was obviously the youngest in top5. I'm really happy about my performance because I know I did everything I possibly could - Niewiadoma summed up. Taking 5th place in my first year as U-23 satisfies me. I'm very grateful to Paulina Brzeźna-Bentkowska and her husband Paweł for helping me and preparing me for this race.

Niewiadoma was on my lit of "names to remeber" after this year's Polish Nationals. She would probably ride the Worlds in September, so watch out for her.

Tour de Pologne 2013: new classification and its impact on GC explained

70th edition of Tour de Pologne starts this week, so it's time to look at the changes the UCI and organizers made. When the changes were announced, I wrote a small piece about them (you can find it here) but today we know all the details and, suprisingly, there is a road book in English available.

I honestly thought I'll have to put it all together by myself and that it's going to take ages but since we got the rules in English, there's no need to do that. Here we go:

Time bonuses at the finish line:

1st place - 10 sec
2nd place - 6 sec
3rd place - 4 sec

Intermediate sprint: 3-2-1

There are three intermediate sprints on stages 1, 2 and 4; two on stage 3 and one intermediate sprint on stages 5 and 6. Stage 7 is a time trial so obviously no intermediate sprints.

There is one additional classification that has something to do with intermediate sprints and categorized mountain passes. It's called "attractivity contest classification". No idea where the name comes from but anyway, this can change the way the race plays out and may suprise some of the fans.

So, it's time to quote. The rules state:

At each stage to the first three riders of “attractivity contest classification” will be awarded time bonuses: 30 sec., 20 sec. and 10 sec. respectively (point 11.1.5).

11.1.5. “ATTRACTIVITY CONTEST CLASSIFICATION”

11.1.5.1. Riders gain points to daily “Attractivity Contest Classification” ranking on each of the primes during the stage (intermediate sprints, mountain passes, hill contests)

11.1.5.2 Agreement to restrict time bonuses to top 3 in daily “Attractivity Contest Classification” ranking:

• 1st in daily Race Appeal ranking: 30 seconds time bonus on individual general classification 
• 2nd in daily “Attractivity Contest Classification” ranking: 20 seconds time bonus on individual general classification 
• 3rd in daily “Attractivity Contest Classification” ranking: 10 seconds time bonus on individual general classification
• Tied riders are awarded the same time bonuses 
• The top 3 in the daily “Attractivity Contest Classification” ranking include tied riders. This means that if for instance the top 3 riders have the same amount of points, each obtains a 30 second time bonus and no other bonus is awarded (see example 2 below). In other words, ties in the upper positions cancel time bonuses relative to the inferior positions. For instance, if the top 2 riders are tied and obtain each 30 second time bonuses, the rider next in line obtains the time bonus relative to the 3rd position, i.e, 10 seconds and not that of the 2nd position. 
• The stage classification settles ties on the individual general classification

Example:

11.1.5.3 The daily Race Appeal ranking must be communicated on an ongoing basis during the race via radio-tour such that the actors are permanently informed of the points awarded on each of the animations; the resulting ranking must be updated following each animation.

This all means that with 6 riders per team, the race becomes much more difficult to control and situation on the road can simply get out of hand. Riders attacking early and gathering points on intermediate sprints and mountain passes may gain enough time to become the race leader, even if the peleton brings them back and the final sprint will be claimed by another rider.

The 70th Tour de Pologne starts in four days. Remember - racing commences in Italy with two tough stages in Trentino - with two uphill finishes. The riders will fight for the victory on the slopes of Madonna di Campiglio during stage 1. Naxt day seems to be even harder as it features Passo Pampeago, Passo Costalunga and the final climb of Passo Pordoi.

What's interesting, there are three intermediate sprints on these highly difficult mountain stages. The full TdP preview willbe online tomorrow or, more likely, on Friday, so stay tuned.

You can download full pdf "TdP Rules" here.

Polish National Championships 2013: names to remember

Today I have something special - I'd like to bring you an insight into Polish National Championships - a very special and well-organized cycling event I've recently attended.

I've spent 5 days in Sobótka, Lower Silesia, participating in Polish National Championships. No, I didn't race, I did what I like most - I watched people race their bikes, talked to them, wrote about them and had good time with freaks who, like me, live in the rhythm of cycling calendar and share my passion for two wheels.

Intro

I've been doing live ticker from elite men road race and this was the event that everyone was mostly interested in. I don't want to write about Bodnar wining the time trial and Kwiatkowski wining road race - you know them, you watch them in World Tour teams. Today I'd like to write about riders - boys and girls - who race in junior and U-23 category. I think the National Championships event is a good cause to talk about their achivements and, above all, show that there are extremly talented kids in Poland who, with adequate care and conditions, can race and win at international level.

I chose five riders - one girl and four boys. Four of them stood on the podium of this year's nationals. You could ask - why them? It's simple - I talked to them, I know them better than others and I think that you should pay attention to their results and remember their names.

But first...

The route

The time trial: both junior and U-23 riders competed on the same lap (profile below). Junior time trial was 20 km long - one lap. U-23 time trial - 40 km - two laps. What is interesting, elite men time trial also had two laps and 40 km - just like U-23. Strange, eh?

40 km is a lot for U-23 race, especially in 36 degrees temperature, headwind and two demanding laps. Elite men raced on the same day as their younger collegues, so it allows me to compare the times. But let's not jump to conclusions too early.

Road race:

22 kilometers - same for all categories (except for junior women), tough round with climb of Tąpadło and slightly uphill finish.

I'm not going to write the race reports in English, I already did in Polish. Here are the riders I'd like to introduce.

Łukasz "Wiśnia" Wiśniowski (Etixx-Ihned) - 1st place - U-23 road race and time trial

If you haven't had the chance to meet 21-year-old, tall and shy Etixx-Ihned rider, let me introduce him shortly. He took two bronze medals - both in time trial and road race - during Nationals last year. He rides for Etixx-Ihned - U-23 team of Omega Pharma-Quick-Step and has recently won a stage of Thüringen Rundfahrt, dropping Lasse Norman Hansen (next year Garmin-Sharp), Rick Zabel (next year BMC) and outsprinting German U-23 champion Silvio Herklotz. 

Ah, and he trains with Michał Kwiatkowski who ends their training sessions in pretty bad condition... ;)

(Please, don't make me translate the words from the picture, it's simply not possible. For those who know the translation of "Kwiatkowski" could be something like: "fading like a flower", in other words - meeting the man with the hammer).

Łukasz's road to wining two U-23 titles was defenitely not a piece of cake. Polish word "wiśnia" actually means "sour cherry" in English, so it wasn't a piece of cherry cake too. Anyway, he trained hard for the whole season, too hard at some point. At press conference he admitted that training with "Kwiato" was a little too much for him and that he felt overtrained at the begining of the season. 

In the time trial, Łukasz was the last rider to set off from the ramp. Considered to be a favourite in pre-race speculations, he did really well in the first part of the course. 30-seconds lead on Kasperkiewicz seemed to be a safe advantage. It finally turned out to be so, however the second lap was a little slower and the difference between them dropped to only 14 seconds.

- I think it's a good moment to thank Michał Kwiatkowski for all the help and advice - Łukasz smiled at press conference. - It was a very challenging race, especially for us, U-23 riders. I managed to fight my way out of it, that's my first gold medal in the championships and I'm very happy with it.

Wiśniowski was also one of the favourites for the road race. But once the 18-men breakaway formed, he wasn't there. After 5 laps (out of 8), the gap stopped at 3:30 and podium place seemed to be an unreal wish for Etixx-Ihned rider. Wiśniowski didn't panic, organized a counterattack and tried to bridge to the head of the race. Joining forces with Paweł Franczak (Wibatech Brzeg) and two other riders turned out to be a decisive move. Despite the presence of four TC Chrobry Lasocki Głogów riders in the breakaway, talented climber Patryk Stosz included, the chasing group started gaining time on the peleton and getting closer to the leading riders.

I've been following the whole race in a car with Hugo Brenders - WV De Jonge Renner manager. This way I saw almost all key points of the race and now I can write down a few words about it. Wiśniowski's group did the impossible - they closed the gap and put themselves in a comfortable position, as the breakaway started to fall apart. Lasocki's riders tried to change the situation, launching several attacks and putting Konrad Tomasiak at the front. Wiśniowski started chasing on the last lap and was immediately joined by Wojciech Migdał (WLKS Krakus BBC Czaja). The duo bridged to Tomasiak and established a gap on the rest of riders, getting themselves into podium positions. 5 km before the line Wiśniowski decided to finish the job and easily rode away from the rivals. Nobody found the strength to respond and "Wiśnia" broke away, time trialling to the finish and taking second gold medal.

Migdał crossed the line 30 seconds later, outsprinting Tomasiak. Franczak lead the first group, 2 minutes behind. 

Kasia Niewiadoma (TKK Pacific Toruń)  - 1 st place U-23 women road race and time trial

Kasia achieved exactly the same result as Łukasz but her story is a little bit different. There is no U-23 women race - ladies race together and the U-23 classification is determined by places in open category.

Kasia took 4th place in the elite women road race - she was part of a 7-riders group that broke away from the peleton and sprinted to the line on the final lap. Eugenia Bujak (GK Żyrardów) claimed gold medal, beating Paulina Brzeźna-Bentkowska (TKK Pacific Toruń) in the dash for the line. Defending champion - Katarzyna Pawłowska (GSD Kalisto) managed to secure bronze medal, outsprinting Niewiadoma but failing to retain the jersey.

U-23 classification: (place in open category in brackets)

(4) 1. Kasia Niewiadoma (TKK Pacific Toruń)
(8) 2. Katarzyna Wilkos (TKK Pacific Toruń)
(9) 3. Karolina Garczyńska (LKS Atom Boxmet Dzierżoniów)

The time trial was very much the same - Niewiadoma rode 20 km only 24 seconds slower than Pawłowska and took 4th place, in U-23 classification placing ahead of Garczyńska and Monika Brzeźna (also TKK Pacific Toruń).

- I'm very happy with U-23 title, 4th place in elite race also gives me satisfaction - Niewiadoma said after the race. - The time trial was really demanding, not to mention hard weather conditions. I'm glad I survied that - she smiled joyfully.

Niewiadoma is currently preparing for European Championships where she hopes to perform well again.

Przemysław Kasperkiewicz (WV De Jonge Renner) - 2nd place U-23 time trial, 9th U-23 road race

Przemek came to Sobótka aiming at the time trial. Racing for the first year in U-23 category, he wanted to perform as strong as possible but didn't think of taking one of the top places. - I wasn't thinking about the podium, if a week ago somebody told me that, I wouldn't believe it - he smiled after the race.

Kasperkiewicz has already proven that he's capable of riding consitently, racing in the Netherlands and taking 6th place in Carpathian Couriers Race this year. It sounds like a joke but it's not - he's 19, first year in U-23 category and have never raced a time trial longer than 20 km. Before the start he looked really motivated and I got the feeling that it's going to be his day. He kept calm, preparing for the start away from noisy centre of Sobótka.

The route consisted of two 20-km laps. Kasperkiewicz set off almost at midday, facing not only the longest route in his carrer but the heat and headwind. He did really well, saving power in the first part but then coming to the line with the best result, 2 minutes faster than the others. - I have never ridden such a long time trial - Przemek told me before decoration ceremony. - It's my first year in U-23 category, before that, as a junior, I raced mainly on distances closer to 20 km. I think I did well, I'm satisfied with the result. I rode the first lap a little slower, perhaps too carefully. The second one was faster, the feelings seemed better and I found my rhythm. In the final, I gave it all I had left.

By the way - do you remember Marc Madiot "encouraging" Thibaut Pinot to go for the stage during last year's Tour de France? That's nothing. You should have been in Sobótka - if you have a beautiful girlfriend cheering you up from the car, your body automatically switches to "shut up legs" mode.

(c) Młoda Photography

Kasperkiewicz seemed to be doing better and better as the line approached, while Wiśniowski started losing his advantage on the second lap. The clock stopped at 14 seconds - I lost 30 seconds to Łukasz on the first lap but the second one showed that I planned it better and had more power for the final - 19-year-old rider concluded.

Szymon Rekita (Ciclistica Setese) - 3rd place U-23 time trial

Szymon has also entered the world of U-23 riders this year. He had proviously shown that time trialling is one of his most favourited parts of road cycling. He hasn't raced on such a long distance before but, in contrary to almost every rider I talked to, he didn't find the route that hard.

 - The race was tough, everyone suffered, so did I. The route was not that demanding, the real challenge was the heat - I hate racing in such conditions. When it gets that hot, my legs are not working properly, so I'm really happy with my 3rd place.

Grzegorz Haba (WV De Jonge Renner)

Grzesiek took part only in U-23 road race, failing to play a significant role there. In fact, he was supposed to be the leader, as his teammate Kasperkiewicz had ridden the time trial two days earlier. Before the race everything seemed to be fine. When we talked on Friday, he was feeling very good, the legs were responding very well and the results of the tests and medical checks conducted some time before the Championships confirmed that he's got both great physical effeciency and capability of racing at the highest level. 

Grzesiek scored some good results this season, however, I think he was hoping for much more. He came 8th in Rabobank Kersenronde, 6th in Regio Kampioenschap Zuid and finished 7th on stage 1 of Tour of Berlin. In the road race something just went wrong but I think he'll recover from it and look for other opportunities in the second part of the season, as soon as he fixes a couple of things. I believe he will, he is capable of wining races.

Michał Paluta - 1st place junior time trial

Paluta started his carrer in cyclo-cross racing but is now focusing on racing on the road. He won the junior time trial and I have to admit that he was my favourite. I paid attention to his results after Troeo Karlsberg in Germany where he finished 4th, taking 4th place in the time trial.

I'm very happy with my result. The time trial was very demanding. Truth to tell, it wasn't feeling well, I wouldn't call it my day - Paluta told me after the race. When I crossed the line, I found it very suprising to see that my time is the best. It's my first medal in road racing, it's gold, I'm very happy with that.

His results sparked the rumours that finding a (foreign) team is just a matter of time. We'll see how it plays out.

There are of course other riders who deserved to be mentioned:

Tobiasz Pawlak - 2nd place junior time trial

Mikołaj Gutek - 3rd palce junior time trial, 6th place junior road race where he did countless number of attacks

Gracjan Szeląg - 4th in junior time trial, 5th in junior road race

Kamil Turek - 1st place junior road race

Katarzyna Wilkos - 2nd place women U-23 road race

Karolina Garczyńska - 2nd place women U-23 time trial and 3rd place women U-23 road race

Monika Brzeźna - 3rd place women U-23 time trial

And now...

As I said, we can compare the results from the time trial - U-23 and elite men. 

1) Wiśniowski's time was only 3:01 worse than Bodnar's. If 21-year-old raced in elite time trial, he'd take 5th place;

2) Kasperkiewicz was 14 seconds slower than Wiśniowski - in elite men standings he'd be 6th;

3)  Both Łukasz and Przemek have never ridden 40 km time trial.

Remember their names. You'll probably hear about them in the near future.