KASIA BACK IN ACTION WITH 2ND AT AMSTEL GOLD RACE

Despite one month on the sidelines, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney showed she had fine legs for Amstel Gold Race, kicking clear on the final ascent of the infamous Cauberg before winning a two-up sprint to finish second.

It was a form-affirming and impressive result on paper, but ultimately a frustrating one for Kasia in a prestigious event that she’s previously won. Paula Blasi (UAD) slipped away in the final 30km before soloing to victory, 27 seconds clear of Kasia and Vollering [FST].

“It would be a very different celebration if there was nobody left from the breakaway up front. Yet, of course, Paula did amazing effort to stay out there on her own, so definitely chapeau to her. Of course, I wish there were more first places than seconds in my palmares, especially this year, because I know that I can do it. But honestly, I think just seeing Wout [Van Aert] pulling off the win in Paris-Roubaix gave me so much faith for what’s next, so I’m just doing what I have to do – staying patient and believing that it’s going to come.”

The lumpy 158km Amstel Gold Race can be split into an 80km leg-softening lead-in, followed by four punchy, dynamic laps of 18km. Known for its open and unpredictable nature, the racing is rarely settled. While none of the bergs that pepper the route are especially long, their frequency and intensity creates a relentless style of racing. These repeated, sharp efforts splinter the peloton into progressively smaller and smaller groups.

The Cauberg (0.5km at 9.4%), cresting just 2km from the finish, is the race’s trademark feature. After a stalemate on the penultimate ascent, Kasia emptied the tank the final time, dropping everyone except Vollering, before summoning one last burst of energy to overhaul the fast-finishing Dutch rider for second place. By that point, however, Blasi’s advantage was unassailable, denying Kasia another victory to add to her 2019 triumph.

Kasia reflected on the race:

“I think that Amstel is one of the most stressful Classics because there are many important sections. There are lots of things on the road, and you can sense huge tension in the bunch because everyone wants to be at the front. Then you have this section of four hard, steep climbs, and there’s still a long way to go – 83km remaining when that’s finished –but it’s already really tough. This time, FDJ [FDJ-UNITED Suez] took over there and were really pacing it strongly – not attacking, but just setting a hard tempo that naturally reduced the bunch.”

“Onto the laps, and not that much happened in the first two – it was just a consistently hard pace from FDJ. The attacks then started, and there were a bunch of different ones; it was on-off, on-off. I just tried to drift and stay behind riders like Demi [Vollering] or Anna van der Breggen, and wait for the right moment to go. It’s just a pity that we were no longer fighting for the victory in the peloton.”

The Netherlands’ only Women’s WorldTour one-day race holds special significance for Kasia, who credits the cycling-mad nation with cementing a lot of her passion for pro-level racing. While her eighth appearance didn’t deliver the result she wanted, it provided valuable lessons ahead of the next Ardennes Classic, La Flèche Wallonne – another race where she has previously been victorious.

“Hopefully we can aim higher than second place. One key takeaway from today is that FDJ are strong, but so is Anna van der Breggen…” reflected a highly motivated Kasia.

Meanwhile, further south at the Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry, CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation secured two terrific top-10 places. Emily Dixon placed fifth and Valentina Corvi eighth, finishing nine and 16 seconds behind winner Gery (TJS). Emily also repeatedly demonstrated her strong climbing prowess, securing the QOM classification after taking advantage of multiple opportunities to collect points.

The Australian-Italian duo found themselves in a 12-rider front group on a brutal 120km parcours, which packed over 2000m of elevation gain into a relentlessly undulating route of repeated laps. Emily reflected on the demanding race:

“First of all, it was four laps on a small circuit, which was a bit chaotic with so many corners and sketchy downhills, but the girls all helped to position us really well. I’m also happy with how my skills in the peloton have progressed – I think it really helped today. Then, Jule [Märkl] led us perfectly into the large laps, where the biggest climb was – it was just selection after selection on all the climbs from there. The bunches would come back together, before reducing again on every climb, but by more and more each lap. I tried for the QOM points because I thought we had nothing to lose, and I’m happy that we made it happen. On the last main climb, it split quite a lot, and Vale [Valentina] and I were in the second group. I’m really happy that we rejoined the front, and then it was all together when we returned to the small lap, as everyone was looking around. Vale and I communicated, and we decided that we would both just try our best on the uphill finish because we both felt pretty destroyed – I was cramping a lot after a super hard race. I also had some bad luck with a mechanical, so was chasing back for half a lap and thought my race was over, which was a bit stressful! In the end, we went for what we could, and I’m really happy that we were both able to get a top 10 – it really shows how strong we were and how well represented we were in the group.”

“I’m feeling so proud of the team because we rode so well together,” Emily continued. “We had a lot of respect from the other teams, and it made a real difference heading into the climbs on the big laps because we didn’t need to fight for positions as much. After leading us in, Jule also stayed with us on the climb, and everyone else rode so strong for Vale and me. Then, the two of us communicated a lot at the front. I’m just feeling so happy and positive for all the work that the girls did, and also the staff who also make everything possible.”