After winning La Flèche Wallonne Femmes, Kasia Niewiadoma celebrated not only her individual and Canyon-SRAM’s team result but also confirmation that her continued belief in herself and her strength would pay off one day.
Last year, Niewiadoma broke a drought of almost five years without a victory when she won the UCI Gravel World Championship in her first outing in the sport’s newest discipline. The result came after a slew of near-misses dating back to her last victories in 2019.
Niewiadoma has been there or thereabouts since she made her pro debut in 2013 and has animated numerous races with her aggressive racing style but rarely has been able to celebrate on the podium’s top step.
Three-quarters of her podium places have been seconds and thirds, and most of her victories have come in lower-level events. Before Wednesday, she had just two one-day WorldTour race victories to her name: the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in 2018 and the Amstel Gold Race in 2019
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After last year’s Tour de France Femmes where she was able to attack on the stage over the Col du Tourmalet and hold off everyone but eventual winnerin Demi Vollerg (SD Worx) – that was the first indication that her hard work was beginning to pay off.
She narrowly missed the podium in Strade Bianche and then made the winning move at the Tour of Flanders only to fall just short of the win behind Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek).
To finally taste victory again at La Flèche Wallonne made the Polish rider “super happy”.
