If we apply the phrase all's well that ends well to Kasia Niewiadoma’s 2023 season, it would be fair to say this year has been super for the Canyon-SRAM rider. Her results have given a firm springboard to overhaul her rivals in 2024.
In the first half of her season she was not firing on all cylinders, having been somewhat conservative in her winter training. By her own admission, it is not always easy for Niewiadoma to find the sweet spot of being finely tuned enough to achieve consistently strong results through the first half of the season, dominated by the Classics.
Things had begun tentatively, with a 24th place at the Classics season opener Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, sixth at Strade Bianche, a target race for her in which she has been a runner-up multiple times in the past, and 15th at Trofeo Alfredo Binda, which she won in 2018.
“It’s always tricky to actually know how to prepare yourself for the Classics so that you don’t overdo it, but you have enough to sustain your performance from Strade Bianche at the beginning of March to Liège [Bastogne-Liège] at the end of April. I think, with my coach we were a bit too soft with the training because with every week I could feel I was getting stronger and by the time I was getting into good shape the Classics had finished!”
Niewiadoma had climbed up the results sheet by the Tour of Flanders and Amstel Gold, taking fifth and fourth, but It wasn't until Itzulia in May, that the 29-year-old got her moment on the podium. Though her best results came during the Tour de France Femmes in July, where she finished in 3rd place on GC and won the Queen of the Mountains competition, after her strong performance in the fog on the slopes of the Col du Tourmalet.
Niewiadoma recalls the stage where she came second to overall winner, Demi Vollering, fondly:
“On the Col d’Aspin when Annemiek [Van Vleuten] attacked I was able to stay with her - not only to hang on, but I felt like I could carry on, and that definitely gave me confidence. I was happy that I was able to stay away and the bunch never caught me, except for Demi.
“I was definitely happy with the Tour de France Femmes, especially with that particular stage. A lot of the time I would be dropped from Annemiek [Van Vleuten] when she put in an attack. So I worked on it in Andorra before the Tour de France Femmes, simulating her attacks or the way that she would ride and drop me, and the hard work paid off.”
From World Championships disappointment to elation
Illness put Niewiadoma out of the World Championships in Glasgow, and after recovery she continued her strong form with a second place overall at the Tour of Romandie, quickly followed by her donning the rainbow jersey at the Gravel World Championships, and her first win in four years. She followed that with a final season victory at Big Sugar Gravel in the US.
Granted, this had not been a specific objective for Niewiadoma, but a win is a win. Coming into the event, her first-ever gravel race, she had kept an open mind, and treated it like a Classics race given the number of roadies that were on the start list.
Not only could she draw on her late season strength, but also took confidence from comments made by her partner, former racer Taylor Phinney, and by EF Education-EasyPost’s Lachlan Morton with whom she had done off-road rides. She had acquired good technical skills, and they both believed she could smash it in a gravel race.
However, converting all her strength and skills into something meaningful on the day was another matter, and arriving at the start line was still a nerve-racking experience, even as one of the stronger riders in the field.
Niewiadoma remembers, “The course looked very hard, and before the race I was telling my partner that I didn’t want to race it. It was just terrifying, with all those big climbs.”
Thankfully once the race began, she found her good legs and was able to put in that trade-mark gutsy racing that she is known for since bursting onto the professional scene in 2014.
The 2021 World Road Race bronze-medallist already had form on gravel roads in Italy, having been the runner-up at Strade Bianche on three occasions. However, a gravel cycling race would be a different ball game, as Niewiadoma explains:
“It’s like nothing I have ever done before. You go hard from the start and there is very little element of riding in a peloton. It felt like we were all doing a time trial, with a steep climb in the final. The thing that gave me confidence was knowing that other people behind were suffering too!”
Back to the paved roads
As for the upcoming 2024 season, the newly-crowned Gravel World Champion has already taken learnings from this season and is positive about her approach for next year.
“With my coach, after every Classics race, we were taking notes and thoughts and I really hope I can use that in the next season. For the Tour de France Femmes, what I need to improve will be my longer climb ability, so when Demi [Vollering] goes, I can go with her and can compete in the final kilometres because this year she was definitely a level above me. The way she passed me on Tourmalet that day was really remarkable.
Niewiadoma has already nailed her colours to the 2024 season mast in terms of what she will be targeting: Strade Bianche and the Ardennes Classics.
And what about a win on Alpe d'Huez? The 2023 Tour de France Femmes polka dot jersey winner is more circumspect.
“Well, I will definitely be doing a recon of Alpe d'Huez. I will try to make it as pleasurable as possible, but they will be hard sessions.”
