What a difference 12 months can make. This time last year Michal Kwiatkowski's head was full of doubts, the former world champion starting to wonder whether he was worthy of those rainbow bands on the sleeves of his jersey.
"We were trying to put in my head that I didn't lose talent, that I just needed more time,” Kwiatkowski tells Cyclingnews.
Whatever was said, it worked. Kwiatkowski, who had one victory and six DNFs across 56 race days last year, was transformed this year in his second campaign with Team Sky, with success in one-day classics and stage races alike. He won his first Monument at Milan-San Remo and triumphed in convincing fashion at Strade Bianche and the Clásica San Sebastián, while also finishing on the podium at Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Basogne-Liège. He then went to the Tour de France and was arguably the stand-out domestique for Chris Froome as the Briton secured his fourth yellow jersey.
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"My problem sometimes is that I have too much motivation. Maybe when I came to Sky I had too much motivation. I wanted to impress. I wanted to start too early but it's not the way," says the Pole, who struggled with illness and injury last year.
"This season gives me a lot of confidence – well, not confidence, but the realisation that sometimes there are things you cannot control."
There wasn't much that Kwiatkowski and Sky couldn’t control this July. Froome’s victory was owed in no small part to the strength of his team, and it wasn't long before debates over team sizes and salary caps resurfaced. If last year it was Wout Poels who amazed rival directeurs sportifs and fans alike with his turns in the mountains, this year it was Kwiatkowski.
All-Rounder
Looking ahead
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