Twitter - a chatter or a news source?

The discussion we had today on Twitter prompted me to write a couple of words about Twitter itself. As 140 characters is obviously not enough to share my opinion, I decided to puff away the dust from my blog and put my fingers on the keyboard. 

What's the big fuss all about? Well, if you haven't seen it, Michelle Cound, Christopher Froome's fiancee tweeted yesterday about putting up with all the pressure and doping questions being asked. The discussion is, however, focused on this one:

"Maybe an "ex" doper can win the tour this year, at least he would be qualified to answer all the doping question."

She later said she didn't have Contador in mind: "I didn’t make any reference to Contador, nor did I intend to. I was on an overnight flight on Monday."

I checked. Only Spanish media wrote articles on it. Not surprisingly - the reference is clear, naming another "ex-doper" from Spain, that is one of the main contenders for 101st edition of Tour de France, is as easy as keeping up with Froome riding away from Quintana on Mt. Ventoux.

Our Twitter discussion ended up evaluating Twitter as a valid and trustworthy source of information. For me - it is - as long as you know your sources, you understand the context and as long as you can verify the information.

First, look at examples I've got in my mind:

1) Every team has a website. They upload race reports and quotes after each race/stage. When riders are racing in Catalunya (WT event) and some smaller races in Italy, press officer or content manager is not teleporting and covering two races on site. I'm sure Twitter tickers and updates from local people come very handy.

2) Settimana Coppi e Bartali. No tv coverage, only live ticker on the website and Twitter. Peter Kennaugh wins, BBC writes a story on it, even quoting his tweet. Good for them, they found the right source and used it. What's wrong with that?

3) Women races - no live tv coverage, only a small number of people tweeting live. Of course, you have press releases and they often talk to riders afterwards, but initial reports and posts on Facebook (generating entries and money) are based on Twitter reports.

Twitter live-tickers are a great thing and help us all very much, no doubt about that. Getting the right source is important and if you talk to people who tweet and know more than others, you get the bigger picture. You just have to pick your sources carefully. Often Twitter may be a start - then you switch to emails or other ways of communication, where you elaborate on unclear issues.

Responsibility

I am not a journalist. I don't intend to call myself one. But I've been writing about cycling for some time and what I know is that you're responsible. Responsible for what you publish. Also on Twitter, especially if you're followed by hundreds or thousands of people. And there are many out there who use it to provide accurate news - either by tweeting or by posting links to their blogs/websites.

Now, we have Michelle and her tweets. Of course, she is close to Britain's cycling star so everything she says will be checked and some will try to make a story. So tweeting about "ex-doper" etc. is not the wisest thing to do.

On the other hand, I can understand her - he's been an outstanding supporter of Chris and it must be hard for her, putting up with all the nasty things people write and all entourage. I also understand that fans don't want to be fooled again and will be questioning some performances. But the way some of them express their opinion is, how can I put that politely, inadmissible. No wonder people close to a rider get upset. Well, we cannot do much about it, that's the Web, anyone can tweet.

Conclusion

Whether we like it or not, Twitter has become a serious source of information. Over past years we've seen it growing to importance - during Arab Spring, different conflicts around the world or sport events. But it needs to be handled carefully. Especially if you happen to be well-known. If you're following people to obtain information, you talk, exchange views, after some time you know what they think on the subject (in that case - cycling), when they take the piss out of something, when they are dead serious. And you see that somebody is upset and is tweeting just to shout it out.

I haven't seen any English-speaking media publications on those tweets so far, hope it stays that way. You just don't use emotionally written 140-character messages to make a story. It's wrong. Not professional. No, you just don't do it, if you ask me.

So you (journalist, blogger, whatever you call yourself) just have to be responsible. It's hard. Choosing and selecting. Knowing who you can trust and who needs double-checking. What is appropriate and what is not.

With reporting cycling, today everything seems easier. Over past years things have changed - remember times when looking for a startlist was taking hours, profiles of smaller races were a mystery and finding a live ticker was bordering on a miracle? Today everything can be found - easier, faster - and not only thanks to Twitter. But the abundance of sources and data also means you have to double-check and be careful when it comes to putting something online. Sometimes, one hasty move can do a lot of harm, even if it's not your intention.

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. 

Vini Fantini's problems force Polish U-23 champion to quit

I should probably write something about the Giro and Polish riders from top10 of the GC but they were both interviewed and there's not much I can add. Instead, last weekend I wrote a story on Paweł Poljański - Polish U-23 champion who signed with Vini Fantini and never appeared in yellow jersey of the Italian squad. I contacted him and prepared a short story about him and Vini Fantini. I thought that it can be published somewhere else, it didn't work, never mind. Here it is.

Vini Fantini's problems force Polish U-23 champion to quit

Paweł Poljański, Polish National U-23 champion, was forced to withhold the start of his professional career due to financial problems of Vini Fantini-Selle Italia - the team he signed with last November. 22-year-old Pole encountered major problem with registration and as a result quitted the team, having previously waited five months for registration and possibility to race as a neo-pro.

Poljański had a successful 2012 season. He won Polish National championships in U-23 category and gained attention in Italy, winning GP Ezio del Rosso-Montecatini  and taking several podium spots in other U-23 races, such as Gran Premio Valdaso a Rubbianello. He received several offers from ProContinental and ProTour teams. The choice seemed to be resonable - Vini Fantini offered him the possibility to develop as a rider in an environment he already got to know living and training in Lucca, Italy.

Entering the world of professional cycling through second division was supposed to help him acclimatize in the peleton, get used to racing on the highest level and later allow to look for his own opportunities. He signed the two-year contract in late November and started preparations for the debut as a neo-pro. The debut that never took place.

"The thing is that Vini Fantini had serious financial problems and was unable to register me. I hadn't the faintest idea that something is wrong. Everything seemed to be fine - both during negociations and inking the contact. I realized that things are not going in the right direction because they were waiting with the registration" - Poljański explained.

As a brand new neo-pro, Poljański needed to be introduced to biological passport program and his contract had to be registered by the UCI. Young rider hoped to start racing in February, trying to understand that the procedures and talks with sponsors take time and patience. But the days were passing and nothing changed.

Poljański admits that the whole situation took him completely aback. "I didn't know what to do. I thought that it's all going to clear up. That's why I waited. They told me that my registration will be completed when the talks with sponsors end" - young Pole recalls.

After four months of uncertainty and no payments received, Poljański made a decision. He wanted to withdraw his contract at the begining of April and put an end to the drama that costed him precious time, races and his dreams. This step wasn't welcomed by the team and its initial refusal only resulted in longer negociations.

At that time, the team managed to finalize the talks with sponsor - Acqua e Sapone. For the owners of the company from Abruzzo, the aim was to support Danilo di Luca in his efforts to sign a contract with Scinto's team. Moreover, in February, Farnese, team's main sponsor, sold 37% of its shares to Alessandro Benetton's investment group, giving the team the hope for the solution to its financial problems. Di Luca's bid to sign a contract and ride his national Grand Tour was strongly supported not only by Acqua e Sapone owners but by his friend and main sponsor Valantino Sciotti. Luca Scinto, however, didn't want him in the team but finally bend to the sponsors' will and agreed to include 37-year old rider. 

Di Luca waited for the registration just like Poljański. He eventually signed the contract on April 26th and was selected to ride Giro d'Italia - his last Grand Tour as it later turned out. UCI notified Italian rider on May 24th that he tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test before Giro d'Italia. Di Luca, who has previously been implicated in doping scandals and banned for performance enhancing drugs use, was fired by the team and is now facing a lifetime ban.

In April the financial assets became available and the team started thinking of registering Poljański. The Pole had a different plan and turned down the offer, demanding contract's termination at the begining of the month. The talks lasted for a couple of weeks, leading to mutual agreement in May. Poljański succeeded and left the team. "I think I have some other options. If it was the only one, I'd probably stay. But after all this, I just wanted to leave as soon as possible."

Despite such a poor start of the season, Poljański is looking forward to new challenges and tries to find positive aspects of the story. "I'm disappointed because almost the whole first part of the season is lost. I've been training a lot but I haven't raced at all. But I'm happy this is all over. I don't blame Scinto, he's a great man. The team had no money - that's not his fault."

It may be over with Vini Fantini but 22-year-old hasn't abadoned his desire to become a professional cyclist. For the next few months he'll be racing in Italy, in Acqua&Sapone Team Mocaiana. "Next year, I won't make such a mistake and I'll sign a contract with another team, perhaps from the first division" - Poljański declares confidently. And starts racing in U-23 races in Italy again - last Sunday he took 5th place in Trofeo Leoni.

Giro 2013: stage 18

The Giro is entering its crucial part as the riders are facing the fight against the clock on the slopes of Polsa. The stage could prove to be decesive - due to horrible weather conditions the final mountain stages, where the race was supposed to be decided, are about to be called off. So is the chance of gaining time on the rivals and even with the new course - the riders cannot gamble and make calculations. RCS is working on plan B - the decision will be announced today but looking at the state of affairs on the slopes of Passo Gavia, Passo dello Stelvio and even San Pellegrino, I cannot see the possibility of the race going up there.

The time trial is 20,6 km long, the average gradient is 5,2%. The stage consists of two parts - 10 kilometers climb (avg. 6.6%) and 7 km climb (also 6.6%), separated by 4 km of  "false flat" - bumpy part that seems to be an opportunity to rest for a while and catch one's breath. In fact, this part won't help riders much - not everyone likes to change the rhythm, once he finds the suitable one.

There has been so many previews (I wrote mine too, in Polish, of course) that I don't feel like writing one more. The duel between Evans and Nibali will be vital for the podium fate - Australian is 1:26 behind the "Shark" and has to gain some time if he wants to wear maglia rosa. Nibali on the other hand is riding very well, not losing time and will be very hard to beat him. Remember, he did very well during the first time trial, roaring around the 54.8 km course only 21 seconds slower than Alex Dowsett.

It would also be interesting to see how Rigoberto Uran manages - Colombian rider was flying on the first part of the first individual time trial before fading and losing 1:48 to Dowsett. His countryman Carlos Alberto Betancur is the next one to watch out for - he's currently holding maglia bianca - his aim in the race. 

Majka and Niemiec

The purpose of this blog is to write more about Polish riders so that's what I'm going to do. Three guys from Poland are participating in the race, two of them place in the top10, marking the best Grand Tour for Polish cycling since many many years. Przemysław Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) and Rafał Majka (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) are riding a fabulous race and are on their way to achieve the results of their careers and beat Zenon Jaskuła's record in the Italian Grand Tour (9th in 1991).

They both know how to ride such time trials. Niemiec has been racing in Italy for years and fought against the clock on the uphill. He even won a mountain time trial on the slopes of Port de Bales, back in 2006, during Route du Sud, where he eventually placed 4th. You can find some more good results from such stages in his palmares.

Niemiec is riding the race of his life so far - he climbs very well and is clearly stronger and more consistent than his team leader Michele Scarponi. He also rides better in extreme conditions - snow and 0 degrees are nothing special for him - this is the racing (or training I should say) reality in Poland till late March.

Przemek also rode one of the best time trials in his entire career. "I haven't had such a good  time trial since 2004" - 33-year-old said after the stage. "I got a green light from the team, I didn't have to save energy. Giuseppe Saronni was following me in a car and I rode 100%". Niemiec started the race as a gregario - he was supposed to help Scarponi and now is one of the leaders - sitting in the 5th place and trying to get himself a stage win.

What is Przemek capable of? Who knows? Before the stage he said that he'll go full gas again - no calculations, just giving it everything he possibly can.

Although Majka is a climber and the time trials are not really what he prefers, young Pole stays optimistic. 23-year-old planned to lauch attacks on Friday and Saturday when the long and exhausting climbs were supposed to decimate the peleton and make everyone, even GC contenders, suffer and once more realize that cycling is one of the toughest sports on the planet. The plan may fail in the wake of recent problems with the snow and more and more probable route change. The time trial? Going uphill isn't the problem for rider from Zegartowice. He lacks in experience, that's for sure, although he won the uphill prologue in 2010 during Carpathian Couriers Race.

What is important and you may have no idea about - Majka is not fighting for the white jersey. He concentrates on the general classification and would like to win the stage. As I mentioned, the task may be harder than expected due to the route changes.

The time trial starts now, time to work.

Giro d'Italia 2013: Majka, Niemiec and Gołaś

The first week of the Giro is over, the first rest day is about to start this evening, so I thought it's a good idea to write something. I have to admit - I don't have much time - writing about cycling in Polish and all standard duties make it impossible to find time and write down some notes. 

May started great - I've been to Slovakia, enjoing Carpathian Couriers Race, where I worked as "twitter man" or..eee, whatever - I was doing live race ticker on Twitter,  wrote a couple race reports in English (you can find them here: http://carpathianrace.eu/?cat=2), made a few interviews and had a really good time. 

Ok, back to Giro.  First of all - it was great to watch Adam Hansen win the stage 7. I've always liked the guy - sense of humor, hard work and skills in many fields. That was absolutely amazing, I really enjoyed it.

I'm also so happy about Dowsett's victory. I've been watching him since he turned pro - yesterday he rode the time trial of his life - beat everyone on a difficult and demanding route, with technical start and steep finish. Winning a stage in your Grand Tour debut must be something breathtaking and hard to describe, it's defenitely a big step in his career. I remember that it was a suprise for me when he announced that Eusebio Unzue will be his manager next year but now it seems that Alex has found his place in the team. There has been a grin on my face when I realized that Alex is going to claim it - a year ago we talked on Twitter and I decided to introduce him to Polish Wikipedia. I wrote an article and today I'm happy that collegues from the project can add such an important win to his palamres.

We have three Polish guys riding this Grand Tour. They are all doing really well, I'll be probably talking to them during the rest day, so I'll have much more to report then.

Przemysław Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) is riding the Grand Tour of his life so far. His main objective is to help Michele Scarponi. They both put a tremendous effort into yesterday's time trial - Scarponi followed the Colombians who were absolutely flying, while Niemiec placed 16th, losing only 2:13. 

You have to remeber that Niemiec is a pure climber, time trialling is not really his thing. He's been working on it this year like the whole team, though. Testing new equipement and working on his position pays off - he's now 9th in the GC. Before the time trial it was not so sure, however. Niemiec said that the DS will decide if he can go full gas or save the energy. Przemek did well - it's a good sign - Lampre has two strong riders who are going to support each other and fight for this. Ah, I don't expect him to do anything today but Niemiec knows Fiesole climb and the region inside out as he's been living there for years.

Michał Gołaś (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) is easy to be spotted in the peleton. Michał wears Polish national champion jersey (which at some point can be confused with Pellizotti's) and is visible even from helicopter camera. 

Gołaś is in a good shape, no doubt about it. He's improved his climbing a little and his main objective in this race is to win a stage. He tried in Matera (11th place) where he avoided the crash and managed to get himself into the first group, alongside with his teammate Matteo Trentin. Guys got a little confused - Gołaś wanted to help Trentin and Trentin wanted to lead-out Gołaś and as a result John Degenkolb claimed the victory. 

Before the time trial Michał declared that he has to lose some time to be later allowed to attack and look for the opportunity to win a stage. Today seems like a good choice but it's hard to predict anything - it's Giro.

Rafał Majka (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) - no problems uphill, slight trouble downhill. Rafał is riding very carefully, not losing time and waiting for the big, sorry, I should say BIG, mountains. He claimed maglia bianca on a rainy stage to Pescara but (as predicted) was not able to defend it in the time trial. 

Majka is the first Polish rider to wear white jersey in the Giro since Joachim Halupczok in 1990 (he took it after the time trial but abandoned a couple days later). Rafał isn't such a good time trialist as Halupczok was but we believe that he's got the power to blow the peleton in the mountains. Maglia bianca and any other possible successes are treated as bonuses - Polish rider focuses on the GC and wants to be as high as possible. Yesterday's time trial was the longest fight agianst the clock in his entire life. "I've never ridden such a long time trial" - Majka admitted before going off the ramp. He lost only 3:27 and is now 17th, 4 minutes down. But the stages he'd like to avoid are now behind him and Rafał is thinking of the 3rd week. 

Tomorrow perhaps something about Giro in general. 


P.S. Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp-Endura) starts Tour de California today. He'll be helping Jan Barta and Leo Koenig. His next races are Criterium du Dauphine, Polish national road championships (in his home town) and then - Vuelta a Espana.

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.