Michal Kwiatkowski Thread

[Gloin22]

Would be good to see him put up a performance similar to Prati di Tivo, but he did lose a lot of time in the mountains at the Dauphiné.

So did Rodriguez in few stages and other contenders. So what?

Dauphine can't be taken as a form factor, many riders ride it just not for results, but merely to prepare for Tour.

We'll see tomorrow how he's looking on that front, however Top 10 in GC might be possible, I doubt it though, too early in his career.

 

[Bushman]

Would be good to see him put up a performance similar to Prati di Tivo, but he did lose a lot of time in the mountains at the Dauphiné.

Not that i'm sure he will repeat his TA performance, but tbf he did not go all out in Dauphine.

 

[trevim]

The bunch sprinter, the time trialist, the climber and the classics rider: Michal!

 

[metaCYCLE]

time for Michal vs. Rafal poll?

 

[sucotash]

Yes he can climb

 

[manafana]

good showing big fan of the lad

 

[Gloin22]

I think he did pretty well for his first ever mountain stage at Tour. Finished ahead of many bigger names, good performance.

 

[Swede1]

I hope he doesn't fall into the jack of all trades, master of none category in the future. I wonder what he will eventually specialize in.

 

[Panda Claws]

If he keeps this level up for 3 weeks, then he will probably become Van Garderen 2012 level for GT's.

He'll also need to substantially improve on hills and cobbles to turn from a top-10'er into a winner. I like the guy, and I hope he makes it.

 

[Gloin22]

Another solid performance, dropped few times but paced himself very well to make it back to the front group.

Very solid first week.

 

[Pippo_San]

Being a bit of everything can be risky tho, and the risk is he'll always find someone better than him everywhere.
He'd better specialize somewhere. Outstanding talent anyway, really impressive.

 

[karlboss]

Being a bit of everything can be risky tho, and the risk is he'll always find someone better than him everywhere.
He'd better specialize somewhere. Outstanding talent anyway, really impressive.

ok, now I'm a believer. He will win a monument, and a GT before he's career is over.

 

[Walenpol]

After today Michał wrote on his Facebook fanpage:

Today I did something not in my style - I tried to ascend with top climbers. I paid for that with pain explosion in my legs and I barely reached summit. Fortunately Chavanel found me and paced to the finish line without biggest loss of time.

Sorry for translation, but it should give you general thought.

 

[Baldwin]

Guys,

I did a long interview with Kwiatkowski just after Tour de France 2013. Did not have time/motivation to translate it and put together in English but couple of days ago, after his brilliant start of the season, I decided to do it.

Here it is, full English version:

http://rowery.org/2014/02/22/michal-kwiatkowski-its-all-about-patience/

Enjoy!

 

[VeloHuman]

Guys,

I did a long interview with Kwiatkowski just after Tour de France 2013. Did not have time/motivation to translate it and put together in English but couple of days ago, after his brilliant start of the season, I decided to do it.

Here it is, full English version:

http://rowery.org/2014/02/22/michal-kwiatkowski-its-all-about-patience/

Enjoy!

Will be interesting to see those goals come into focus this year. I hope he puts the Ardennes Classics at the top of his list. His post-climb sprint is top-notch.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Will be interesting to see those goals come into focus this year. I hope he puts the Ardennes Classics at the top of his list. His post-climb sprint is top-notch.

his sprint is just flat stages is increidble as well.

 

[SlimChance]

Guys,

I did a long interview with Kwiatkowski just after Tour de France 2013. Did not have time/motivation to translate it and put together in English but couple of days ago, after his brilliant start of the season, I decided to do it.

Here it is, full English version:

http://rowery.org/2014/02/22/michal-kwiatkowski-its-all-about-patience/

Enjoy!

Thanks for posting.

 

[sucotash]

Serge Pauwels ‏@sergepauwels 38 min.

Is there a race on the calendar which this nice young guy is not able to win? Congrats @michalkwiatek and #OPQS team! #StradeBianche

Today Kwiato was amazing. The way he responded to Sagan attack 20k from the finish, chapeau

 

[SafeBet]

A super super talent who never ceases to amaze me.
Hard to find any rider as complete as he is.

 

[Museeuw]

Guys,

I did a long interview with Kwiatkowski just after Tour de France 2013. Did not have time/motivation to translate it and put together in English but couple of days ago, after his brilliant start of the season, I decided to do it.

Here it is, full English version:

http://rowery.org/2014/02/22/michal-kwiatkowski-its-all-about-patience/

Enjoy!

Thanks!

Sad to read that his goal is stage races. There is not too many riders who could challenge sagan in the future in the classics. Kwia would definitely be one of them, if not the only one. But at the same time, it's good to know that he has a clear goal. It prevents him trying everything and ending to win nothing.

 

[pigoonse]

After voting for him in the polls and watching him all spring there is no more denying the urge to cheer for him, it is official - Michal Kwiatkowski is da bomb

 

[maxmartin]

he should aim at green and white jersey in the tour, give a run at Sagan's money, and win the yellow jersey the year after.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

he should aim at green and white jersey in the tour, give a run at Sagan's money, and win the yellow jersey the year after.

Back in the real world, he'll be riding for white and doing short stints in Cav's train.

Should be a shoe-in this year.

 

[trevim]

He's obviously a great talent and probably the best all rounder at this point, better than Sagan and EBH.
Nevertheless, as a fan, he hasn't convinced me yet (not that he has too ): he's seems to follow a lot of the Valverde playbook regarding tactis. Wait for the sprint, for the win or for other place. Obviously he gets a pass considering his ride in Strade Bianchi (not a top level race) but specially because he's a young guy who only took the Ardennes seriously this year. This year the classics were just three bunch sprints so he obviously can't be blamed for waiting for it.
I hope he changes his mentality as he grow up, otherwise he'll definitely be another Valverde. He has great rouleur skills so he should be able to attack from further out, instead of waiting to sprint. We don't need more Gerrans, Valverde types that don't risk a single thing.
GT wise he still needs to improve his climbing a fair bit otherwise he'll be faded to contend for the Jurgen van den Broeck/Brajkovic anonymous top10 placings that annoy the hell out of me. Again, time is on his side, specially if Quickstep doesn't overcharge him with responsability: in my perspective, they took a good approach this year by not letting him ride the cobbles. I'm not sure if it was necessary for him to ride Romandie but well he doesn't seem tired, judging by today's results.

 

[Netserk]

I think he, like last year, will be dead after the Tour. He seems to be in great shape from the word go, so he could probably afford to knock off some of (if not all of) his February race days. With the new route, I hope he will make MSR a primary goal together with the Ardennes. Perhaps skip the Tour and focus on Worlds and Lombardia(could be too hard for him though).