Kasia Niewiadoma had another impressive performance at the Spanish stage race, Setmana Ciclista Valenciana. Today’s queen stage saw the peloton race over 129 kilometres with more than 3000 metres of elevation. Kasia crossed the line in third place, just 23 seconds behind stage winner Niamh Fisher-Black. The results catapulted Kasia into second in the general classification, a mere eight seconds behind the leader with one stage remaining.

“Today was a very hard day for everyone in the peloton, with over 3000m elevation gain in just four hours. Everyone was racing hard from the start as many teams wanted to get in the breakaway, making the entire stage difficult and a lot of riders very tired before we even arrived to the final climb. It was brutal!” said Kasia.

“I had Antonia and Elise there to support me as the designated leader today. Antonia responded to a LOT of attacks and then did great to get in the main breakaway. That boosts her morale and can give her confidence going into her next races. Elise played a great support role, following attacks and keeping me safe all day.”

“We all knew the last climb would be very steep and challenging. When Marlene (Reusser) slowed down, I used that opportunity to attack. I got a small gap, but when it got too steep I felt that I lost some strength. I gave my best today and I’m generally happy with the result. It’s February and I’m still working on some areas. My current shape is good and it’s going in the right direction for my first goals of the season. Unfortunately, yesterday we gave Marlene time on GC unnecessarily but that’s the game we play are we learn from it. We’re looking forward to the final stage here tomorrow,” added Kasia.

HOW TO WATCH

Setmana Ciclista Volta Feminina de la Comunitat Valenciana is broadcast on SportPublicTV YouTube channel and can be followed on X with #SetmanaCiclista. The final 118km stage from Sagunt to Valencia starts at 11:00 CET, with the live broadcast starting at 12:30CET.

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