Analysis: Poland for UCI Worlds 2013

UCI World Championships - Florence 2013: This year Poland is allowed to choose 9 riders for the elite men road race. Polish Cycling Federation announced the names of the riders going to Florence yesterday - there are few suprises and a lot of questions without an answer.

Here is a short preview, full squads with my comment. I'm not writing all the results when talking about riders - you can easily find them all taking a look a at ProCyclingStats website.

Poland was ranked 8th among nations represented in World Tour racing in UCI nations ranking on August 15 and can take a 9-man squad to Florence. Such a high place is a result of achievements of only three riders - Rafał Majka (7th Giro d'Italia, 4th Tour de Pologne), Przemysław Niemiec (6th Giro d'Italia, top10 placings in Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta a Catalunya, Giro del Trentino) and Michał Kwiatkowski (4th T-A, 4th Amstel Gold Race, 5th Fleche Wallonne, 11th Tour de France).

Elite men:

Road race: Maciej Bodnar, Maciej Paterski (Cannondale), Michał Gołaś, Michał Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Rafał Majka (Team Saxo-Tinkoff), Tomasz Marczyński (Vacansoleil-DCM), Przemysław Niemiec (Lampre-Merida), Sylwester Szmyd (Movistar Team), Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp-Endura). 

Time trial: Bodnar and Kwiatkowski.

Best Polish riders, probably the best line-up for this moment. All the best riders together in one team. Chance of scoring a decent result? Or too good to be true?

Originally I wanted to write that Kwiatkowski, Majka and Niemiec are feeling tired after the racing they did this year. Today it's not entirely true - as we saw yesterday in GP de Wallonie - "Kwiato" is in good shape and it's hard to predict anything. Like somebody once noted - his limits are yet to be determined and he doesn't know them himself.

Kwiatkowski is focusing on the time trials - he's been chosen as the last warrior of Omega Pharma-Quick Step and on Monday morning he'll ride off the ramp to defend the World Champion title with his teammates. Then, he wants to perform at the highest level in the individual time trial. The course is flat - if he's feeling well, he can possibly perform as good as he did during Tour de France. Road race? Michał wasn't sure about his role himself when we talked after le Tour and neither am I today.

Majka did Giro and Vuelta this year, taking respectively 7th and 19th place and may be a little tired after all this. Remember, he crashed during Tour de Pologne and hurt his leg - that didn't help him at all. Niemiec rode Giro, Tour de France and Tour de Pologne - his disposition remains unknown. They both know every piece of Fiesole - but that's not going to help much when you don't have the legs.

Szmyd and Marczyński are not in the perfect shape - Marczyński suffered from cold during Vuelta and was forced to withdraw. He's been struggling with cyst at the begining of the season, came back in May, then won mountains classification of Tour de Pologne but failed to peak during Vuelta. Szmyd was satisfied with his legs after Spanish Grand Tour and could play an important role with his experience, nevertheless the route is not suitable for him. Same goes for Bodnar - Polish time trial champion - his experience and power can prove helpful on such a long and demanding route of the road race.

Gołaś, Paterski and Huzarski. They are quite fresh, did only one Grand Tour this season and are performing strong but with no luck. Gołaś is doing well in the UK, he finished 5th on stage 2 of Tour of Britain, dealt with time trial and today he sprinted to 2nd in Caerphilly. Paterski fought in Eneco Tour, placing 3rd on stage 6. Huzarski rode Vuelta, marking his presence with countless attacks and breakaways, missing closely a stage opportunity on Aramon Formigal and taking 3rd, just behind Warren Barguil and Rigoberto Uran. (in fact, I think he's really happy about his performance)

Who's going to be the leader? Time will tell, I think a lot depends on Kwiatkowski's disposition after the time trial.

Elite women:

Road race: Paulina Brzeźna–Bentkowska (TKK Pacific Toruń), Eugenia Bujak (GK Żyrardów), Małgorzata Jasińska (MCipollini Giordana), Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Rabobank-Liv Giant), Katarzyna Pawłowska (GSD Gestion Kallisto), Maja Włoszczowska (Giant XC Pro Team); reserve: Paula Gorycka (4F Racing Team);

Time trial: Bujak and Pawłowska.

Pay attention to Kasia Pawłowska - she's had a really impressive season, taking a lot of high places in international races and winning Tour Féminin en Limousin. Watch out for Kasia Niewiadoma - new Rabobank-Liv Giant trainee (perhaps more than that in the near future?) - she did Boels Ladies Tour with Rabo and won young rider's classification, taking 10th place in the GC. Ah, she doesn't know the meaning of the word "give up", so expect her to fight.

Best female riders in Poland. Yep. Wait, check again. Take a closer look. Isn't it Maja Włoszczowska? The MTB rider? Yeah, that's the problem. Włoszczowska used to race on the road - she was even a Polish National champion a couple years ago. I may be wrong but as far as I know she didn't do ANY international road race this year. She wasn't present at Polish Nationals. Nothing. She recovered from foot injury and came back to MTB racing, taking 2nd in CX World Champioships. Enough to be selected? I doubt that. There are a lot of riders (like Monika Brzeźna from Pacific Toruń - 2nd in Polish Mountain Championships, 1st in women team time trial) who would love to go and who, by hard work and results, proved that giving them a chance won't be a mistake.

U-23:

Road race: Emanuel Piaskowy (TKK Pacific Toruń), Patryk Stosz (TC Lasocki Chrobry Głogów), Łukasz Wiśniowski (Etixx–Ihned), reserve: Bartosz Warchoł (TKK Pacific Toruń);

Time trial: Szymon Rekita (Sestese) and Wiśniowski.

Wiśniowski seems to be the strongest out of them but he's doing 3 races - team time trial, individual time trial and road race. Hard to say, depends on the strategy, I haven't talked to him yet. Piaskowy should do well, he finished 11th in Tour du Jura (1.2) a couple days ago. Stosz is a good climber, very good I'd say but is too much of a hothead. If he chooses the right moment to attack, there's a good chance they won't see him untill the finish. There's also a good chance that Eddy Merckx pays me a little visit this afternoon...

No Przemysław Kasperkiewicz in the time trial? That was a little suprise in Poland - he did well in Polish Nationals - 2nd in U-23 time trial, then several top10 and top3 places in Dutch races, 1st place in Ronde van Ransdaal, 6th in Carpathian Couriers Race. He wanted to go but wasn't selected. Shame.

Junior Men:

Road race: Mateusz Kazimierczak (GKK Opty Mazowsze Grodzisk Mazowiecki), Piotr Konwa (4F Racing Team), Patryk Krzywda (KTK Kalisz), Michał Paluta (LKS POM Strzelce Krajeńskie), Gracjan Szeląg (KK Tarnovia Tarnowo Podgórne), reserve: Mikołaj Gutek (Mayday Lublin);

Time trial: Konwa and Paluta.

Strong team. Krzywda, Paluta and Szeląg all seem to understand themselves and can work as a team. Just like they did in Grand Prix Rüebliland, where Gracjan finished 4th, despite having a cold and racing a lot before. Paluta could do well in the time trial; if Szeląg has the legs, he can be pretty dangerous in the road race. I feel that the major drawback is the absence of Tobiasz Pawlak - 2nd in Junior Time Trial during Polish Nationals, 4th in Polish Mountain Championships.

What I don't understand is the presence of Piotr Konwa on the team. He races mainly MTB, doesn't have great results on the road and there are at least few guys that deserve to be selected. Konwa has no results in time trials. The one in Florence is almost 26 km long. No results whatsoever, I'm not counting the 7km time trial of Le Trophée Centre Morbihan, where he came in 6th.

Junior women:

Road Race: Bogumiła Dziuba, Agata Drozdek (BCM Nowatex Ziemia Darłowska), Natalia Nowotarska, Nikol Płosaj (UKS Jedynka Limaro Kórnik), reserve: Łucja Pietrzak (Koźminianka Koźminek);

Time trial: Dziuba and Drozdek.

Possibly the best junior team Poland can put forward.

I'll be talking to riders before and after the races so if I find a minute or two, I'll share it here.

Polish riders: Current situation

This is my first real entry so it's going to be a little long. There are a lot of Polish riders in pro peleton, so I just want to give you a short insight into their plans and current situation. This way it will be much easier for you to follow the updates in the following months. As I said, there a lot of things I work on, so no time to lose, here we go.

I'd like to start with Przemysław Niemiec (Lampre-Merida). He's doing really well this year - 9th in Tirreno-Adriatico (with 8th place on the stage to Chieti), 7th in Volta a Catalunya (8th place on Vallter 2000) and now 6th in Giro del Trentino, after a tremendous amount of work during the last stage and Sega di Ala climb. Remember, he is riding for a WT team for a second year only.

Niemiec doesn't fancy changes of rhythm, prefers riding his own tempo - just like he did in Vuelta a Espana 2012 (15th place). He likes Trentino - in 2009, riding for Miche, he placed 3rd and won a stage. When we exchanged messages yesterday, after the race, he was satisfied with his performance:

"The last stage was really good for me, the whole team supported me and I think I did very well. The final climb was really hard. I've been just keeping my own rhythm and trying not to lose too much time. 3rd place during such a tough stage, with so many good riders here, I think it's a very good result."

33-year-old had been training on the slopes of Etna earlier this month and made it clear that participation in Giro del Trentino will be a final test for him before Giro d'Italia, where his objective is to help Michele Scarponi and (perhaps) look for opportunities for himself.

I also asked him about Wiggins, as he as riding along him for some time in the final of stage 4. "Wiggins was unlucky, had problems with his chain but is in a good shape and will be very strong during Giro." And Scarponi? "Michele wasn't pushing hard on the last stage because he wants to make a good result in Liege-Bastogne-Liege".

Bartosz Huzarski

Huzarski (Team NetApp-Endura) is currently trying to find the right gear for this season. The spring wasn't successful but during Trentino there have been signs that indicate that it's all going in a good direction. He is satisfied with the result in the TTT - claims that they did very very well (4th place). He has also been a part of a breakaway during stage 4 and was the last man standing, being caught at the very begining of Sega di Ala. He now concentrates on the upcoming races - Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt and Tour of California.

Sylwester Szmyd

Polish most experienced rider Sylwester Szmyd (Movistar) is preparing for Tour de France. Polish climber hasn't had a great season so far and earlier this year admitted that not everything is going as planned. Being an experienced rider, he also said that "the form is like good wine - it requires time, has to ripen". But after Vuelta a Castilla y Leon (when Movistar's Ruben Plaza managed to secure the 1st place in the GC) Szmyd looked a little more satisfied and is now expecting to do better in Tour de Romandie.

"Valverde is riding... but we won't be interrupting each other" - Szmyd wrote on his website recently.

Rafał Majka

Tour de Romandie will be the 2nd start for Rafał Majka (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) this year. 23-year-old Polish climber stuggled with knee problems at the begining of the season (the same injury unabled him to start Giro d'Italia last year) and competed only in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. Fortunately, everything seems to be ok now, the problem is over and Rafał resumed trainings some time ago. He spent 17 days on the altitude, training near Mount Etna, Sicily. He's riding Romandie and Giro - first one to do some training and catch some racing rhythm. Giro d'Italia? Who knows? Rafał says that his legs will be doing best after the first week  - when he gets used to racing intensity. Let's hope so - there is no clear leader in Saxo-Tinkoff team and if you followed Vuelta 2012 closely, you may have the idea how strong Rafał can be.

(Not sure you heard it, the story is a little old but when Majka signed his 1st contract with Saxo-Tinkoff, the rumours were saying that he impressed Riis with his ride during winter camp. What exactly happened? I don't know, rumours say that Alberto Contador was unable to drop him on a climb. The other version: Majka dropped Contador on a climb).

Karol Domagalski

Domagalski (Caja Rural) is a tall, humble and nice guy from Skała (near Kraków), who is riding for Caja Rural-Seguros RGA for the second year. He's still learning and gaining experience - not only by attacking and trying to get to the finish before the bunch, helping his teammates on the finish but also by making mistakes and facing the lack of luck. What is important, he's made a progress, rides better than last year and still wants to improve.

His next race is Tour of Turkey and I'm sure he'll be riding with panache, trying to get himself a stage win. So, if there is a breakaway on the road,  he's likely to be there. Good luck, wining as stage as a pro will surely be good for him and his future development.

Finally, there has been a lot of writing about Michał Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) recently, so I'm not going to quote his team's website or translate my articles on him. He's been very consistent for the last couple of weeks, he is looking forward to riding Liege-Bastogne-Liege and wants to do his best there.

Perhaps you've heard that but when I talked to him before Fleche Wallonne, he said that Liege is more important, the final is more suited for him. He also stated that he'll ride Waalse Pilj as a preparation and will see about his disposition during the race. Apparently he had the legs - 5th place speaks for itself. So I just hope he stays cool and will be looking for an opportunity on Sunday.