The opening Ardennes week saw the same three riders grace every podium: Anna van der Breggen, who did the triple, Lizzie Deignan, who three times finished second and Kasia Niewiadoma (WM3 Energie), who rounded out the podium at the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
"I did everything I could to change the order of the podium sometime this week but it didn't work out," Niewiadoma told Cyclingnews. "Boels Dolmans was the strongest this week. They showed that from the beginning. I'm still a bit disappointed, but I couldn't do any more."
Niewiadoma turned professional with the now-defunct Rabo Liv as a first-year elite in 2014. She notched 10 wins in the past two seasons as she learned alongside some of the best in the business: Marianne Vos, Anna van der Breggen and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. The 22-year-old stepped into an undisputed leadership role at WM3 Energie this season as Vos races only sporadically and has yet to regain the form that saw her dominate the sport across multiple disciplines for the better part of a decade.
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Niewiadoma has raced nine times this season. She's been her team's top finisher in all but one race. In addition to her trio of Ardennes week third-place finishes, she came second at Strade Bianche, and she featured in the main bits of action at the pointy end of Flanders. Perhaps more importantly, she's often been the main instigator as the kilometres tick down: launching attacks, closing gaps and driving breakaways.
"It's a completely different situation this year," said Niewiadoma. "Always with Rabo, I ended up in a group with two or three teammates, so we always took responsibility to control everything. Now I'm on my own.
"In one point, maybe this is good because I don't feel the pressure not to do something that could harm other riders, but I can't control everything alone," Niewiadoma continued. "At some point, I'm completely done and have no powers in my legs."
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