Ladies on the podium

It's been a good weekend for Polish cycling in general. There is a lot to write, mostly about the Giro but there have also been some good performances from women (MTB and road) and men U-23. So just to sum up - because most of the results are well known. Ladies first:

MTB

It's not really my thing, MTB, but I always turn streams on when Maja is riding. She never gives up, fights till the end and smiles even when something goes wrong. It's Włoszczowska's first World Cup start - for the last 9 months she's been struggling with an injury. She overcame it and is now back, racing and showing that she's still one of the best MTB riders in the world.

On Sunday Maja took 2nd place in first race of cross country World Cup in Albstadt, Germany. The race really kicked off on the last 2-3 laps, when a group of five women managed to estabilish a gap. It started to rain, making the course harder. Last descent proved to be the key to success - Eva Lechner took the best position and earned a handful of seconds on Włoszczowska and Leumann. The finish line was not that far away and she managed to take the win, marking a great start of cross country World Cup.

Maja started the race from a distant place and had to make her way through the group for the whole first lap. "It cost me a lot of energy. When I get to the leading group, I tried to rest and save the energy for the last lap but it was not enough" - she explained on her website.

Road

Katarzyna Pawłowska (GSD Gestion - Kallisto) took 3rd place in GP Gatineau on the first day of racing in Canada. Kasia has been riding very consistently since the begining of the season and taking podium places in many races, mostly classics. Two starts in Canada were preceded by three-week break from racing, taken after Tour of Luxembourg, where she place 4th, only 17 seconds behind Marianne Vos.

You can see her results here. 

Short note: women's races

I have never written much about women cycling but yesterday I thought it is a good idea, especially after some good results achieved by ladies from Poland. It's kind of late, I still have some errands to run but I'd like to post a short note about three women whose results catched my eyes in the last weeks.

I'm going to start with Maja Włoszczowska (Giant Pro XC Team). 2008 Olympic MTB silver medalist has been through a hard time for the last 9 months - three weeks before Olmpic Games in London Maja had a terrible accident - she fell during the training ride and injured her leg seriously, breaking two bones and ending up in a hospital with her foot bent unnaturally.

Today, after months of recovery and painful rehabilitation she is back on her bike - racing and winning races. This only shows how determined she is and how much work she put in coming back. Maja started racing in a minor event in Jerez de la Frontera (I've always associated it with a medieval battle - in 711 Tarik ibn Ziyad defeated Vandals and started the Muslim conquest of Spain) - not telling anyone in order to avoid putting any pressure on herself and making a suprise for her dedicated fans. It worked out just fine - Polish MTB champion finished 1st and officially announced her comeback. She has recently participated in two Bundesliga MTB races, wining them and confirming that, despite suffering and lack of racing rhythm, she'll be fighting and trying to be back on her best level. Next goal: Ötztaler Mountainbike Festival - tomorrow! Fingers crossed:)

April has been also very good for Katarzyna Pawłowska (GSD Gestion - Kallisto), who took several top places in a couple of important races. Remember, Kasia is a two time reigning world champion in women's scratch (2012, 2013). She has recently showed some strong performances while racing on the road - something that in my opinion is worth mentioning.

April started with 5th place in Grand Prix de Dottignies. Two weeks later Kasia also took 5th place - this time in Ronde van Gelderland. 23-year-old then participated in Fleche Wallonne Féminine, placing 11th. "It was a hard race. Mur de Huy... riding it really hurts" - Pawłowska wrote on her Facebook fan page. " I'm happy, 11th place is not bad... maybe next time I will be in top ten".

Pawłowska has recently finished Dwars door de Westhoek 2013 - taking 5th place for the third time. Her next start will be Tour of Luxembourg, starting next Friday.

Last two days were successful for Paulina Brzeźna-Bentkowska (TKK Pacific Toruń). She won stage 3 of Gracia Orlova (2.2), outsprinting Ellen van Dijk and Fabiane Luperni. Today she took 3rd place and finnished 11th overall in this beautiful Czech race.

Tomorrow I will write something about Rafał Majka - his DNF in Romandie and plans for Giro d'Italia. In case you missed - just like I said some time ago, Rafał will lead Team Saxo-Tinkoff in the race for maglia rosa.