Stage races, cobbled Classics, time trials and hilly races: Michał Kwiatkowski can do it all. But in 2017, the former world champion is taking a more focused approach to the season. Procycling finds out why the Polish rider is going all-in for the Ardennes races.
There’s a discrepancy between Michał Kwiatkowski the rider and Michał Kwiatkowski the person. On a bike, he’s a lethal and photogenic combination of classy, aero and punchy. He looks good on a bike, and he’s aggressive – one of my favourite cycling photos of 2016 was of him at speed going round the top corner of the Poggio descent, a few seconds ahead of the chasing bunch. I enjoyed his attacks with Peter Sagan at E3 Harelbeke and the Tour of Flanders last year – one (the former) was successful and one was not but the main point is that, in bike races, he makes things happen. He pedals elegantly fast, although I suspect this is more born of wiry strength than of innate grace, and even the sunglasses he wore through 2016, if it matters, gave him an air of cool. (I like the 2017 model less.)
Off the bike, however, he’s slightly nerdy and placid. At Team Sky’s pre-season training camp in Majorca, he seems to go with the flow. Kwiatkowski is socially engaged enough to laugh at other people’s jokes but, from my observation, he’s not the one who makes the jokes. It could be shyness or it could be confidence. When we talk, his voice is so quiet that I have to move my dictaphone closer to him.
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Some Kwiatkowski results:
- 11th in the 2013 Tour de France
- first in the 2008 World Junior Time Trial Championships
- first in E3 Harelbeke in 2016
- first in the 2015 Amstel Gold
- second in Paris-Nice 2015.
That 11th place in the Tour was impressive. It was his second Grand Tour and he only slipped out of the top 10 on the final mountain stage. He was third in the white jersey competition, won by Nairo Quintana. “I had the freedom to fight for the GC,” he says. “There was no pressure and the team was motivated for winning stages. How many did we win? Four? On many days it was difficult to follow the best climbers and I was in survival mode but I was proud of what I had achieved without really thinking of riding GC.”
The World Junior Time Trial Champs win went along with a win in the European Junior Time Trial Champs the same year. “It was a funny year,” he says. “I won the Euro and Worlds TT. Peter Sagan won the mountain bike Euros and Worlds, and a French guy [Johan Le Bon] won the road race in the Euros and the Worlds. The three of us were double champions. I was a good time triallist but I also had a couple of medals on the road and track. I didn’t have a career yet but these results meant I could get my first pro contract and I had more confidence I was doing the right things.”
E3 last year saw Kwiatkowski attack with Peter Sagan and then easily win the two-up sprint at the finish. “Apart from a team time trial, that was my only win last year,” he says. “It was a special race because I have been racing together with Peter since we were juniors. We are always fighting each other and it’s nice racing against a great champion and a great mate.
“It wasn’t planned but it was the right moment and we attacked together. There were many guys from Etixx in the front group so it was smart to escape from them. I was happy I could raise my hands once in that season.”
Kwiatkowski’s 2015 Amstel Gold win was taken while he was the reigning world champion. “It was my first win in the rainbow jersey. I was chasing that win for a long time,” he says. “It was all about playing the cards we had and being in the right position for the sprint. It’s difficult for me to sprint against guys like Valverde and Matthews – you have to have the right kick at the right moment but I had a bit of luck and I was happy.”
In 2015, Kwiatkowski was second behind a rampant Richie Porte at Paris-Nice. “It was one of my best performances in a stage race. I was chasing the win and we took a lot of risks. I almost lost second place but we weren’t thinking about finishing second. It was all about the win.”
I look at Kwiatkowski and ask him if he knows why I’ve chosen these races to talk to him about. He looks at my list and shakes his head.
If you break down these results, there’s a very impressive Grand Tour GC, a time trial win, a win in a cobbled Classic, a win in a hilly Classic and a close second place in one of the hardest and hilliest stage races in the WorldTour. Apart from bunch sprints, Kwiatkowski can do everything. But I wonder if he’d win more if he specialised, or if he even wants to.
“Actually, I don’t know. There are so many beautiful things in cycling I want to try. I don’t want to put myself in a box.”
Making choices
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