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. 

Marek Rutkiewicz suspended

Marek Rutkiewicz has been suspended by his team - CCC Polsat Polkowice - following the news that he tested positive during Bałtyk-Karkonosze Tour (May 20-25). Polish Cycling Federation confirmed that he's under investigation, facing a disciplinary procedure. The team refused to make any further comments.

Four days ago, Pro Continental team CCC Polsat Polkowice published a short note on its website, announcing that Marek Rutkiewicz has been suspended due to problems with an anti-doping test. No details were given, so one could hardly understand what's going on. The only reason of suspension was "exceeding the allowed amount of a substance".

The whole affair popped up in the middle of Polish National Championships. Almost all cycling journalists were present there but nobody wanted to talk to them officially. The note didn't really explain the problem, so we tried to contact Piotr Wadecki - team's directeur sportif - and talk to him. He refused to answer our questions.

Soon the rumours spread and we got to know that Rutkiewicz had a positive test result during Bałtyk-Karkonosze Tour. Polish Cycling Federation confirmed the fact, issuing an announcement on its website.

Polish Cycling Federation announces that Polish Commission Against Doping in Sport issued an official notification about Marek Rutkiewicz's positive test, conducted during Bałtyk Karkonosze Tour. As a result, a disciplinary procedure has been launched - reads the statement.

The rumours I've heard say that "Rutek" took some legal drugs for tonsils and it was just 2mg over the limit. And that he informed the controlers about the usage of this substance.

Rutkiewicz was involved in Cofidis affair in 2004 but didn't receive any disciplinary penalty or suspension.

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.

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. 

Tour de Pologne 2013 and Race Appeal project

This year's Tour de Pologne is going to be special. And it's not only about the 70th edition - for the first time the event starts so far from its home ground - in Trentino, Italy. Two hard mountain stages are going to sort the general classification before the action comes back to Polish roads. But that's not the end of suprises. The UCI also contributes to the organization, changing the number of riders and estabilishing a new classification that can potentially influence the final standings.

First of all - teams. Each squad is allowed to bring 6 riders, not 8. This change is supposed to: highlight the excitement and attractiveness of each day of racing. This is an experiment - we'll see how it works out. But given the conditions, it may be a good idea. The mountain roads in Poland are narrow and cause problems for bigger groups of riders. On the other hand, the average gradient is high and some steep (but not really long) slopes take its toll, breaking the bunch and making the riders struggle alone or in smaller groups.

That's just the begining. From the official race website:

The project introduces a new system of bonus points for riders who win a series of contests organised during each day of racing. These may include intermediate sprints, and mountain pass or hill contests. At the end of each stage a general “Race Appeal” classification will be established by adding up the points awarded. The top riders of this classification will obtain time bonuses on the event’s general classification.

There is no information about the bonuses and their number per stage but believe me - it's not going to be one or two. I don't know if there will be bonus seconds for the top3 on each stage but my guess is: yes, there will. All that is going to make the race harder to control and with 6 riders per team we should see less crashes and more fighting and unexpected situations.

The 70th TdP starts on July 27th and finishes on August 3rd, so it's 8 days long. The route itself seems to be quite demanding - first two stages finish in Dolomites - on Madonna di Campiglio and Passo Pordoi. Then there is a rest day - transfer to Poland. Next to stages - to Rzeszów and to Katowice should be an opportunity for a bunch sprint (however stage 3 can be tricky and losing time can be a matter of temporary carelessness). Stage 5 features some of the well known climbs, for instance - Głodówka (which can be translated as "the hill of the hunger") . Stage 6 - well, last year we had almost the same thing here. I remember Alex Dowsett's tweet before the race: "Mum described the elevation profile as looking like a set of jagged teeth". Indeed, the profile looks just like a comb but the funny thing is that one of the hills is called "Ząb" - in English "tooth"... Anyway, there's an uphill finish so we'll see the riders fighting for the GC once again.

Last stage is a 37-km time trial. The route is undulating, technically demanding in the first part and finishes on the cobbles of the beautiful main square of Kraków. If you haven't been there - it's really worth coming. Kraków is a pearl of Poland - the heart of its medieval statehood. You can feel and touch history on every corner. The main sights are of course: Royal Castle Wawel and the market square of the Old Town (the biggest main square in Europe in Middle Ages) with St. Mary's Basilica (details here) and Drapers' Hall.

You  can see the official promo of the race here:

The video itself is better than the ones we saw for the last couple of years but it's also a compilation of the scenes from last couple of editions (used every in almost every promo, each year), so nihil novi, as we say in Poland. But it's nice that it's been made - broadcasting it in Eurosport during Giro d'Italia is a good idea and as far as I know, there will be one more promo - for the Tour de France time.

Rafał Majka and the Giro

Rafał Majka seems to be one of the biggest revelations of this year's Giro d'Italia. Polish rider was chosen to lead Bjarne Riis' Team Saxo-Tinkoff despite early season troubles with the knee and is now showing that the Dane's decision was right. Despite his young age, he proves that he's capable of leading the squad and fighting with the best riders in the world.

Majka has already showed his abilities during 2012 Vuelta a Espana where he worked for his team leader Alberto Contador. In fact, he'd been scheduled to ride Giro d'Italia 2012 and lead the team but the same knee injury excluded him from racing for a couple of months. 

This year's e return was not so certain and simple as it may seem. Majka started racing in Catalunya - after a month of dealing with knee injury that renewed on February. He resumed trainings on March 10th, rode Catalunya and trained on the altitude for the first two weeks of April. The last check before Giro was Tour de Romandie where he went to train and get used to racing rhythm. He didn't finish the event as during stage 4 he decided to stop due to bad weather conditions.

Heading to Naples for the start of the Giro, he only had 12 racing days in his legs. Majka declared that a couple of days, perhaps a week, will be needed to let him get into the best shape. He is now back in action and is performing well, giving Riis reasons to fell that sigining him for the next three years after last year's Vuelta was a smart and well-considered idea.

It has been a good week for Majka so far. Young Pole stayed away from troubles on tricky descents and wet corners, following the GC contenders easily on every ascent - in sunshine and in the rain. The problems emerged however on the descents - rider from Zegartowice isn't taking much risk and chooses not to follow over certain speed. That costed him 34 seconds on a crazy stage to Marina di Ascea.

First week was really nervous. I had to be at the front all the time because things were changing very quickly - Majka told rowery.org during the first rest day. - There were a lot of crashes, the weather was simply awful. All that makes me a little tired after the first week.

23-year-old rider marks his debut as a team leader in a Grand Tour with Team Saxo-Tinkoff. It's been only a week and young rider managed to repeat the achievement of Joachim Halupczok - the first Polish rider to wear maglia bianca (1990). Today, after the first real mountain stage, is showing his potential, finishing 6th on the final climb of the day and climbing to 10th place in the general classification. - I'm happy to wear the white jersey. I think I can take it again later in the race - Majka declared yesterday. Today he's smiling on the podium and wearing best young rider jersey.

Majka is also happy to have the time trial behind him. 54.8 km technical route never seemed to suit him and his time trialling skills. As a pure climber, Majka admits that the fight against the clock is not really his thing. That changes, however. 
 
- I've never ridden such a long time trial. It was really exhausting - especially last 15 km where I had to push really hard. It wasn't a bad performance, I'm satisfied with it. I lost a little time in the first technical part and on the descent but considering the length of the course - the result seems to be good. 

Majka finished 31th, losing 3:27 to victorious Alex Dowsett of Movistar. This only indicates the progress he has made - a year ago such a result wouldn't be possible. Before today's stage Rafał was sitting 16th overall and looking forward to improving his situation. When I asked him what are his expectations and what is he planning to do, he replied:

- I don't know, honestly. It's been a good race for me so far, I can fight for the general classification. I've nevr done such a big race riding for myself, so I have no idea how my body will react to such an effort. But it's going to be ok, my shape is getting better and better. 

Today "Rafa" is 10th in the GC and is looking forward to next tough stages. Saxo-Tinkoff's DS Dan Frost says that the time for Rafał comes in the third week, when the real mountains start and where every rider will struggle to survive. But this is Giro, you can never tell what happens next. Time will tell.

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.