Michal Kwiatkowski Thread

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

He was still recovering from sickness at Strade and first 2-3 stages of TA

I've always liked this guy, someone with his attacking spirit will feel the toll of disease harder than most.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

He was still recovering from sickness at Strade and first 2-3 stages of TA

I've always liked this guy, someone with his attacking spirit will feel the toll of disease harder than most.

Sky's one day tactics?

 

[damian13ster]

Expected much better from this TT to be honest

 

[Arked]

We would know much more about reasons of his rather poor TT performance if we had chance to see him riding mountain stage. Either he lost weight and is becoming another Sky mountain goat or is still far from good form.

 

[Akuryo]

I'm pretty much okay with him being out of form now. Although this year it is because of the illness, he was always way to early in peak form for with Etixx. Last year he was already fading after AGR. If he gets in shape later that could actually be a good thing for him.

 

[Poursuivant]

Re:

I'm pretty much okay with him being out of form now. Although this year it is because of the illness, he was always way to early in peak form for with Etixx. Last year he was already fading after AGR. If he gets in shape later that could actually be a good thing for him.

Good point

 

[MatParker117]

Had it not been for Canc might of got it today.

 

[damian13ster]

I was excited when Southeast rider went. Totally expected Nibali to go as well that very moment and Kwiatkowski to join.
That didn't happen so he ended up going bit too late. Still, a great effort and ballsy ride.
I think he lacks a bit of form, but will be a beast in upcoming classics.

Also, Kennaugh and Thomas crash hurt a lot. He needed harder pace on the ascent so the group is more stretched out and pure sprinters arent there. Those two guys would be able to stretch out the peleton.

Overall, really unlucky today, but this race further proves that he is one of them most exciting riders in the peleton with the best tactical sense.

 

[RedheadDane]

I know this is a huge if.
But if he had won (MSR), would he have been the first Pole to win a monument?

 

[damian13ster]

Re:

I know this is a huge if.
But if he had won (MSR), would he have been the first Pole to win a monument?

Yes, I believe that is the case. Not much of a cycling tradition in Poland, it is only once the sport started cleaning up that our riders have a chance to shine

 

[JRanton]

Re:

I was excited when Southeast rider went. Totally expected Nibali to go as well that very moment and Kwiatkowski to join.
That didn't happen so he ended up going bit too late. Still, a great effort and ballsy ride.
I think he lacks a bit of form, but will be a beast in upcoming classics.

Also, Kennaugh and Thomas crash hurt a lot. He needed harder pace on the ascent so the group is more stretched out and pure sprinters arent there. Those two guys would be able to stretch out the peleton.

Overall, really unlucky today, but this race further proves that he is one of them most exciting riders in the peleton with the best tactical sense.

Good point about Kennaugh and Thomas although Puccio did well to help him launch his attack. Those two could have made the race a little bit harder in the final which would have suited Kwiato but Swift also. Mind you there were so many crashes, it was almost impossible for a team to avoid all of them.

Agree that Kwiato is missing a little bit of form. I've noticed that the Sky riders in the best form all started their season at Tour Down Under and had a big training camp in Australia (month long) before hand: Henao, Thomas, Swift, Rowe, Stannard, Kennaugh and Puccio. I wonder if Kwiato would consider that build up next year although we obviously have to wait to see how he goes in the Ardrennes.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

I know this is a huge if.
But if he had won (MSR), would he have been the first Pole to win a monument?

Yes, I believe that is the case. Not much of a cycling tradition in Poland, it is only once the sport started cleaning up that our riders have a chance to shine

I would say that Poles having a chance has more to do with the end of communism. But either way, that's an argument for a different place.

 

[Bushman]

Re:

Had it not been for Canc might of got it today.

Well, that would have been an "easy" victory caused by hesitation from the chasers as much as ability from himself. When Cancellara attacked he was pulled back easily and he was done for already. The bunch didnt have to keep him inside 5-6 seconds to overtake him in the sprint in the case Cancellara hadnt attacked.

He is clearly not in top shape right now due to recent illness and I expect him to be stronger in the Ardennes

 

[del1962]

Re: Re:

Had it not been for Canc might of got it today.

Well, that would have been an "easy" victory caused by hesitation from the chasers as much as ability from himself. When Cancellara attacked he was pulled back easily and he was done for already. The bunch didnt have to keep him inside 5-6 seconds to overtake him in the sprint in the case Cancellara hadnt attacked.

He is clearly not in top shape right now due to recent illness and I expect him to be stronger in the Ardennes

I agree, the initial bunch may not have caught him but as numbers and crucially teammates arrived, then he would have been caught

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

I know this is a huge if.
But if he had won (MSR), would he have been the first Pole to win a monument?

Yes, I believe that is the case. Not much of a cycling tradition in Poland, it is only once the sport started cleaning up that our riders have a chance to shine

I would say that Poles having a chance has more to do with the end of communism. But either way, that's an argument for a different place.

For sure, there were multiple factors. It hasn't stopped NRD now, has it? It is all about money, system, and influence, which Poland doesn't have. Anyway, I am really not interested in that discussion.

Back to the race. I think we will have to wait until LBL to see whether he has improved at Sky or not

 

[greenedge]

It was good to see such a strong/ marked rider make such a strong attack, and it's good that he's being applauded for it. Hopefully he can nab a win at the Ardennes.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

For sure, there were multiple factors. It hasn't stopped NRD now, has it? It is all about money, system, and influence, which Poland doesn't have. Anyway, I am really not interested in that discussion.

Back to the race. I think we will have to wait until LBL to see whether he has improved at Sky or not

Let's agree that it's positive that more people here are getting on their bikes and Kwiatek and Majka are playing their part in promoting cycling.

Obviously, the Ardennes are a major goal for Kwiatek and will show how he is developing. How Sky play LBL will be very interesting. Kwiatek, G and Henao should be major players in the endgame.

 

[Breh]

Is Kwia doing any of the races in Flanders?

 

[del1962]

Re:

Is Kwia doing any of the races in Flanders?

According to procyclingstats he is just doing RVV

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

Had it not been for Canc might of got it today.

One would expect Fabian to have learnt the lesson by now, but no, he just keeps on dragging other riders to the breakaway only to be beaten by them in the sprint.

 

[Gloin22]

Re: Re:

Had it not been for Canc might of got it today.

One would expect Fabian to have learnt the lesson by now, but no, he just keeps on dragging other riders to the breakaway only to be beaten by them in the sprint.

Yes he clearly should give up, retire and never race. Pace was too fast at Poggio to do anything, he followed Kwiat moves. What the hell could he do more?

 

[Breh]

Re: Re:

Is Kwia doing any of the races in Flanders?

According to procyclingstats he is just doing RVV

Caught that aswell, he did Dwars Door Vlaanderen last year and E3/G-W in 2013 so I was hoping Sky would send him to Flanders.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re: Re:

One would expect Fabian to have learnt the lesson by now, but no, he just keeps on dragging other riders to the breakaway only to be beaten by them in the sprint.

Yes he clearly should give up, retire and never race. Pace was too fast at Poggio to do anything, he followed Kwiat moves. What the hell could he do more?

There's a middle ground between continuing to use the same old stupid tactics and giving up, retiring and never racing, you know?

 

[Gloin22]

Re: Re:

One would expect Fabian to have learnt the lesson by now, but no, he just keeps on dragging other riders to the breakaway only to be beaten by them in the sprint.

Yes he clearly should give up, retire and never race. Pace was too fast at Poggio to do anything, he followed Kwiat moves. What the hell could he do more?

There's a middle ground between continuing to use the same old stupid tactics and giving up, retiring and never racing, you know?

What would have you recommended to him do in that MSR differently?

Considering how the race panned out there is literally zero he could have done more, Poggio was ridden fastest time in years, no good attacks were even possible, in the sprint he was well positioned until Gaviria took him out, he's done as well as the race allowed him.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re: Re:

What would have you recommended to him do in that MSR differently?

Considering how the race panned out there is literally zero he could have done more, Poggio was ridden fastest time in years, no good attacks were even possible, in the sprint he was well positioned until Gaviria took him out, he's done as well as the race allowed him.

E.g. stay calm and let someone else do the work to catch Kwiatkowski, and then launch a hard attack himself with 1 km to go.

Even if his plan was to contest the sprint, he could have let other riders who had teammates do the job.