She has been riding for the top German team Canyon/SRAM Racing for six years. In 2019 she won the Women’s World Tour Amstel Gold Race, then came second at the Giro d’Italia and third twice at the Tour de France. In the five years since the victory in Amstel and the stage win at OVO Energy, the mountaineer from Ochotnica has missed a significant victory. There were many second and third places. She missed the top step of the podium so much.
Spring Awakening by Katarzyna Niewiadoma
A week before Easter this year, she was half a circle away from winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen. She lost the final to Italy’s Elise Longo Borghini. “There she showed that she is currently one of the best players in the world. During the breakaway, she worked harder than other competitors and in the finish she fell a little short,” Małgorzata Jasińska, coach of the women’s national team and sports director of the British group Liveplus Wahoo, told Rz.
A few years later, Walloon Strzała drove the race differently. She stayed alert until the end and attacked the killer climb of the Mur de Huy. Beautiful action and a beautiful finish. – I would be lying if I said I was surprised by this victory. I know how hard Kasia worked at the high-altitude training camp in Tenerife, and this sprint in Flanders was already a harbinger of further good results – said Jasińska.
Paris 2024. The chance of an Olympic medal disappeared at the start of the race
After such a good first part of the season, Niewiadoma became the leader of the Polish team during the mass start race at the Paris Olympic Games. The route was a bit easy for her – 158 km, starting and finishing at Trocadero Square, with three climbs up to Montmartre.
Niewiadoma came in eighth place. She was upset. She was hoping for a medal. She said she was unlucky because there was a fall in the first part of the race and she was in the second group. “We lost the fight for the medals,” she said.