Kasia Niewiadoma finished fifth on today’s stage of the Giro Rosa moving the CANYON//SRAM Racing rider into second on the general classification. Stage four honours went to a breakaway duo with Elizabeth Banks (EPK) beating Eugenia Bujak (ALE) to the finish. Niewiadoma was third across the line from the peloton.
“It was a good stage for our team today,” said Niewiadoma after the finish.
“The final 25km were very fast as it was mostly downhill until the last 2.5km. The speed was high so it created some chaos and it required a lot of concentration. We stayed quite cool as I wanted to keep my teammates fresh for the final. We had done a recon of the stage and we knew how difficult the final was, and how important positioning would be.”
Niewiadoma continued, “I had Lisa (Klein), Hannah (Barnes), Alena (Amialiusik) and Elena (Cecchini) all around me as we came towards the finish. The last 5km was fast and messy. When the climb started I was focused on the main GC contenders. I had Alena still with me at that point so that gave me some extra strength and confidence.”
“Annemiek (van Vleuten) attacked from the bottom of the climb, and we caught her but she went again and built a gap between myself and (Elisa) Longo Borghini. I could see I was losing some seconds on Longo Borghini, but after the finish I have gained some time for GC which is nice now to be in second position,” said Niewiadoma.
CANYON//SRAM Racing Sport Director, Rolf Aldag, said the team was happy with Kasia’s position on the general classification.
“It’s still a long way to go for us, and what we have to show is consistency over the next days, until we reach the final. The team has to protect Kasia and bring her to position. That was done perfectly today as it was done on the days before. It was another super hard final. We’re happy with the way the team performs as a team, and we’re happy that Kasia is in a really, really, good shape and can stay with the very best in these special finishes which we find here every day,” said Aldag.
“It’s day by day thinking, but a day like today gives us another big confidence boost, and the team understands how good its leader is. Everyone is working so hard and so dedicated within each of their own personal strengths.”
“I think we’re really happy with the situation that we’re in. You never know until the very end but for now it’s absolutely solid, and we go from there on a day to day basis,” said Aldag.
Niewiadoma goes into tomorrow’s 110km stage five around Terracina in second place on the general classification, 1 minute 56 seconds behind race leader van Vleuten.
“Now, we potentially have two easier days and it might give an opportunity to some of the non-GC riders in the peloton,” predicted Cecchini.