Kasia Niewiadoma finished ninth in today’s UCI Women’s World Tour opening race, Strade Bianche in Siena, Italy. Kasia was positioned into the lead group with fifteen kilometres remaining. After chasing a dangerous three-rider move in the closing kilometres, Kasia was unable to bridge to the next attack that soon followed. Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (SDW) went on to win the race ahead of Elisa Longo Borghini (TFS).
Kasia finished the race disappointed but said she was even more determined to one day win the race that eludes her.“I still love Strade Bianche and maybe after today, I love it even more. We really believed we could achieve the win and I’m proud of that approach from our team. I still dream and believe that one day I will cross the finish line in Piazza del Campo first,” said Kasia.
“I feel disappointed of course because we came for a different result but I know it will come. Straight after the race, you see it as a wasted opportunity. You’re in good form, you feel strong, you’re there fighting for the podium, and then in the final it’s gone. There are positives that I’ll take into the next race, and I am confident it will come together,” added Kasia.
Elise Chabbey was our next best placed rider, finishing nineteenth.“It was as hard as I expected and I finished completely exhausted. I led the peloton through the fifth sector chasing a two-rider breakaway because Kasia had asked me to keep a good pace in the front. I also tried a few attacks but I couldn’t get them to stick,” described the Swiss national road champion.“I’m really happy with the first part of the race because our team really raced well. The communication was great and Tiffany made sure that Hannah, Alena and I were sharing the workload.”
“I hesitated to go into a good breakaway with Alena which I’m disappointed about. Mikayla and I were dropped on the top of the climb on the second last gravel section, which was where the lead group was decided. We fought to come back but we just missed by a few metres. These are the small moments that can change the outcome of a race, and we’ll work on it for the next one,” added Elise.
Photo Credit: Thomas Maheux