World Championships: Michal Kwiatkowski wins road race gold

Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) claimed the rainbow jersey with a late attack in the Elite men’s road race in Ponferrada, Spain, after bravely taking the race to the big nations and big-name favourites.

The 24-year-old jumped clear with seven kilometres to go and despite a late chase he was able to hold off Simon Gerrans (Australia) and Alejandro Valverde (Spain) who took silver and bronze.

Kwiatkowski made his first move before the final climb of the race and quickly reeled in a break consisting of Cyril Gautier (France), Michael Valgren Andersen (Denmark), Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus) and Alessandro De Marchi (Italy). It wasn’t long before the Pole was on the move again, dragging De Marchi and impressive first year professional Valgren Andersen with him. However the third acceleration was enough to distance his rivals as further down the climb the rest of the main favourites struggled to organise a chase.

It was Spain who had set the pace on the last lap but when Kwiatkowski attacked he caught the home team off-guard. Just before the summit the reaction from the peloton finally came with Valverde, Gerrans, Philippe Gilbert (Belgium), Matti Breschel (Denmark), ,Tony Gallopin (France), Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) going clear. Despite Gilbert’s efforts in the final kilometres the chase were not able to claw back Kwiatkowski’s slender lead, with the first ever Polish winner of the event enjoying enough of a gap to sail over the line and celebrate the win with his arms in the air.

“I was feeling great on the last lap and I’m really grateful of my teammates and all their work,” Kwiatkowski said.

“I was just going to for the win I was trying to take risks because some were calculating and waiting the final climb.”

“Two days ago I watched the U23 race and I knew it was possible to do this type of win, especially in the race. I just did my effort and had a little bit of gap. This is just incredible.”

Alexander Kristoff (Norway) led home the remnants of the field seven seconds later.

For Kwiatkowski, the magnitude of his win will take some time to sink in. As he gazed at his gold medal during the podium celebrations he could scarcely believe what he had just accomplished. However, for a rider who had not finished outside of the top five in the Ardennes this Spring, Kwiatkowski has finally landed the major one day win his talent and consistency deserves.

Polish endeavour

The breadcrumbs leading to Kwiatkowski’s victory can be traced to Poland team’s decision to set the pace for the majority of the opening laps. After an early and less than threatening break consisting of Zydrunas Savickas (Lithuania), Matija Kvasina (Croatia), Carlos Quintero (Colombia) and Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukraine) jumped clear, it was Kwiatkowski’s team who set tempo on the front.

They allowed the four-man move to steal over fifteen minutes but the tactic at least seemed clear: keep Kwiatkowski out of trouble and near the front during the opening wet laps and let rival teams squabble for position. It paid off. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) was a victim of an early crash and although he was able to continue, and featured in the final laps, the Polish squad kept their leader safe.

As the laps ticked by and the gap slowly started to crumble little assistance came from the likes of Spain, Belgium and Italy and when a selection of Kwiatkowski’s teammates pulled into the pits with five laps remaining the Italian’s finally came to life. The four leaders had been losing two-minutes per lap, and by the time they had raced 180 kilometres the gap had shrunk to a far more manageable 2:19.

The Italian pace setting was soon paying dividends with Giovanni Visconti and Fabio Aru driving the race. With three and a half-laps to go the former surged clear in a group of six. It proved the end for the morning’s escapees with a larger group containing Visconti, Peter Kennaugh (Great Britain), Tim Wellens (Belgium), Christopher Juul Jensen (Denmark), Quintero (Colombia), Michael Albasini Switzerland), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway), Tony Martin (Germany), Daniel Navarro (Spain), Simon Geschke (Germany), Rein Taaramae (Estonia), Sep Vanmarcke (Belgium) and Giampaolo Caruso (Italy).

This forced the French and Australians into chasing and with the gap at 22 seconds, Tony Martin went clear in a move designed to lessen the pressure on his German teammates back in the bunch. The former world time trial champion’s move served its purpose well enough and with three to go he led the race with the chase group and the peloton all within 50 seconds of each other.

Kwiatkowski was still near the head of affairs, still with enough teammates and by the time the race reached the peak of the second, steeper Mirador climb, Martin had been tamed and the leading group had lost much of its impetus.

Visconti and Kennaugh attacked once more with two laps to go but their attempt fizzled out on the lower slopes of the first, easier Confederacion climb as De Marchi, Gautier and Andersen forged clear. The Cannondale rider captained the attack, remonstrating with Gautier who failed to work but in Valgren Andersen the Italian had a willing ally. And when Vasil Kiryienka bridged across just before the start of the final lap the four-leaders sought about establishing their lead.

Spain set about reeling in the move – and in the process softening up their rivals for Valverde’s expected attack - as Italy, who rode astutely until they were over-powered on the final climb, lined out in second spot.

Inside the final 15 kilometres and the gap to the leading quartet was down to 19 seconds. A field sprint, a lone attack, or a small group: every eventuality was still a possibility as Fabian Cancellara, Nacer Bouhanni, John Degenkolb and Michael Matthews lay in wait.

Belgium seemed the most cohesive squad as they set the pace on the descent towards the final climb but just as the favourites gathered for their final duel, Kwiatkowski struck, tearing towards the leading group before the final climb as the riders crossed the dam wall. Even when the fireworks went off on the final ascent of the Mirador, the Pole was safely away and despite his slender lead he hung on for victory. The rainbow jersey is his and it was highly deserved.  

Full Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland)6:29:07
2Simon Gerrans (Australia)0:00:01
3Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Matti Breschel (Denmark)Row 3 - Cell 2
5Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)Row 4 - Cell 2
6Tony Gallopin (France)Row 5 - Cell 2
7Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)0:00:04
8Alexander Kristoff (Norway)0:00:07
9John Degenkolb (Germany)Row 8 - Cell 2
10Nacer Bouhanni (France)Row 9 - Cell 2
11Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)Row 10 - Cell 2
12Ben Swift (Great Britain)Row 11 - Cell 2
13Sonny Colbrelli (Italy)Row 12 - Cell 2
14Michael Matthews (Australia)Row 13 - Cell 2
15Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Daryl Impey (South Africa)Row 15 - Cell 2
17Maciej Paterski (Poland)Row 16 - Cell 2
18Bauke Mollema (Netherlands)Row 17 - Cell 2
19Warren Barguil (France)Row 18 - Cell 2
20Michael Valgren Andersen (Denmark)Row 19 - Cell 2
21Daniele Bennati (Italy)Row 20 - Cell 2
22Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands)Row 21 - Cell 2
23Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Portugal)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spain)Row 23 - Cell 2
25Brent Bookwalter (United States Of America)Row 24 - Cell 2
26Nicolas Roche (Ireland)Row 25 - Cell 2
27Rigoberto Uran Uran (Colombia)Row 26 - Cell 2
28Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway)Row 27 - Cell 2
29Petr Vakoc (Czech Republic)0:00:14
30Alex Howes (United States Of America)Row 29 - Cell 2
31Chris Anker Sörensen (Denmark)Row 30 - Cell 2
32Giovanni Visconti (Italy)Row 31 - Cell 2
33Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spain)0:00:17
34Fabio Aru (Italy)Row 33 - Cell 2
35Yury Trofimov (Russian Federation)Row 34 - Cell 2
36Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spain)Row 35 - Cell 2
37Lars Petter Nordhaug (Norway)Row 36 - Cell 2
38Dominik Nerz (Germany)0:00:21
39Simon Geschke (Germany)0:00:24
40Vincenzo Nibali (Italy)0:00:27
41Giampaolo Caruso (Italy)0:00:31
42Grega Bole (Slovenia)0:00:38
43Peter Sagan (Slovakia)0:00:42
44Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)0:00:50
45Alessandro De Marchi (Italy)0:01:03
46Alexandr Kolobnev (Russian Federation)0:01:05
47Kristijan Durasek (Croatia)Row 46 - Cell 2
48Jan Bakelants (Belgium)Row 47 - Cell 2
49Tom Boonen (Belgium)Row 48 - Cell 2
50Sergei Chernetski (Russian Federation)Row 49 - Cell 2
51Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spain)Row 50 - Cell 2
52Ben Gastauer (Luxembourg)Row 51 - Cell 2
53Matthias Brandle (Austria)0:01:27
54Tiago Machado (Portugal)0:01:32
55Simon Clarke (Australia)0:02:10
56Ben Hermans (Belgium)Row 55 - Cell 2
57Wouter Poels (Netherlands)0:02:19
58Michal Golas (Poland)0:02:31
59Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)0:02:32
60Cyril Gautier (France)0:02:36
61Jean-Christophe Peraud (France)Row 60 - Cell 2
62Romain Bardet (France)Row 61 - Cell 2
63Paul Martens (Germany)0:02:39
64Sep Vanmarcke (Belgium)0:03:42
65Imanol Erviti (Spain)0:04:08
66Michael Albasini (Switzerland)0:05:12
67Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Portugal)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Georg Preidler (Austria)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Danilo Wyss (Switzerland)Row 68 - Cell 2
70Jhoan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Colombia)Row 69 - Cell 2
71Christopher Juul Jensen (Denmark)Row 70 - Cell 2
72Kristjan Fajt (Slovenia)0:06:11
73Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)Row 72 - Cell 2
74Damiano Caruso (Italy)Row 73 - Cell 2
75Ilnur Zakarin (Russian Federation)Row 74 - Cell 2
76Jonathan Monsalve (Venezuela)Row 75 - Cell 2
77Sylvain Chavanel (France)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kazakhstan)Row 77 - Cell 2
79Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spain)Row 78 - Cell 2
80Manuel Quinziato (Italy)Row 79 - Cell 2
81Adam Hansen (Australia)Row 80 - Cell 2
82Peter Kennaugh (Great Britain)0:06:14
83Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)0:07:01
84Daniel Martin (Ireland)0:08:25
85Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Costa Rica)0:11:59
86Jack Bauer (New Zealand)0:13:43
87Peter Velits (Slovakia)Row 86 - Cell 2
88Andrey Zeits (Kazakhstan)0:14:53
89Johan Van Summeren (Belgium)Row 88 - Cell 2
90Stef Clement (Netherlands)0:15:23
91Jan Barta (Czech Republic)Row 90 - Cell 2
92Mykhaylo Kononenko (Ukraine)Row 91 - Cell 2
93Andriy Khripta (Ukraine)0:15:34
94Miyataka Shimizu (Japan)0:20:22
95George Bennett (New Zealand)Row 94 - Cell 2
DNFAndre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Portugal)Row 95 - Cell 2
DNFSergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Portugal)Row 96 - Cell 2
DNFJosé Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Portugal)Row 97 - Cell 2
DNFDaniel Navarro Garcia (Spain)Row 98 - Cell 2
DNFLuis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spain)Row 99 - Cell 2
DNFKévin Reza (France)Row 100 - Cell 2
DNFGeoffrey Soupe (France)Row 101 - Cell 2
DNFWilco Kelderman (Netherlands)Row 102 - Cell 2
DNFSteven Kruijswijk (Netherlands)Row 103 - Cell 2
DNFTom Jelte Slagter (Netherlands)Row 104 - Cell 2
DNFDylan Van Baarle (Netherlands)Row 105 - Cell 2
DNFPieter Weening (Netherlands)Row 106 - Cell 2
DNFRohan Dennis (Australia)Row 107 - Cell 2
DNFCadel Evans (Australia)Row 108 - Cell 2
DNFHeinrich Haussler (Australia)Row 109 - Cell 2
DNFMathew Hayman (Australia)Row 110 - Cell 2
DNFRory Sutherland (Australia)Row 111 - Cell 2
DNFJelle Vanendert (Belgium)Row 112 - Cell 2
DNFTim Wellens (Belgium)Row 113 - Cell 2
DNFStephen Cummings (Great Britain)Row 114 - Cell 2
DNFChristopher Froome (Great Britain)Row 115 - Cell 2
DNFDavid Millar (Great Britain)Row 116 - Cell 2
DNFLuke Rowe (Great Britain)Row 117 - Cell 2
DNFGeraint Thomas (Great Britain)Row 118 - Cell 2
DNFAdam Yates (Great Britain)Row 119 - Cell 2
DNFSimon Yates (Great Britain)Row 120 - Cell 2
DNFJanier Alexis Acevedo Colle (Colombia)Row 121 - Cell 2
DNFWinner Anacona Gomez (Colombia)Row 122 - Cell 2
DNFJulian David Arredondo Moreno (Colombia)Row 123 - Cell 2
DNFCarlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Colombia)Row 124 - Cell 2
DNFSebastian Henao Gomez (Colombia)Row 125 - Cell 2
DNFCarlos Julian Quintero (Colombia)Row 126 - Cell 2
DNFMiguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Colombia)Row 127 - Cell 2
DNFJohannes Fröhlinger (Germany)Row 128 - Cell 2
DNFAndré Greipel (Germany)Row 129 - Cell 2
DNFChristian Knees (Germany)Row 130 - Cell 2
DNFTony Martin (Germany)Row 131 - Cell 2
DNFPaul Voss (Germany)Row 132 - Cell 2
DNFMaciej Bodnar (Poland)Row 133 - Cell 2
DNFBartosz Huzarski (Poland)Row 134 - Cell 2
DNFBartlomiej Matysiak (Poland)Row 135 - Cell 2
DNFPrzemyslaw Niemiec (Poland)Row 136 - Cell 2
DNFMichal Podlaski (Poland)Row 137 - Cell 2
DNFPawel Poljanski (Poland)Row 138 - Cell 2
DNFEric Marcotte (United States Of America)Row 139 - Cell 2
DNFKiel Reijnen (United States Of America)Row 140 - Cell 2
DNFAndrew Talansky (United States Of America)Row 141 - Cell 2
DNFTejay Van Garderen (United States Of America)Row 142 - Cell 2
DNFMartin Velits (Slovakia)Row 143 - Cell 2
DNFDmytro Krivtsov (Ukraine)Row 144 - Cell 2
DNFSergiy Lagkuti (Ukraine)Row 145 - Cell 2
DNFOleksandr Polivoda (Ukraine)Row 146 - Cell 2
DNFRoman Maikin (Russian Federation)Row 147 - Cell 2
DNFAndrei Solomennikov (Russian Federation)Row 148 - Cell 2
DNFJure Kocjan (Slovenia)Row 149 - Cell 2
DNFKristijan Koren (Slovenia)Row 150 - Cell 2
DNFLuka Mezgec (Slovenia)Row 151 - Cell 2
DNFJan Polanc (Slovenia)Row 152 - Cell 2
DNFMichael Morkov (Denmark)Row 153 - Cell 2
DNFNicki Sörensen (Denmark)Row 154 - Cell 2
DNFEssaïd Abelouache (Morocco)Row 155 - Cell 2
DNFTarik Chaoufi (Morocco)Row 156 - Cell 2
DNFMohamed Er-Rafai (Morocco)Row 157 - Cell 2
DNFMouhssine Lahsaini (Morocco)Row 158 - Cell 2
DNFAbdelati Saadoune (Morocco)Row 159 - Cell 2
DNFBernhard Eisel (Austria)Row 160 - Cell 2
DNFMarco Haller (Austria)Row 161 - Cell 2
DNFPatrick Konrad (Austria)Row 162 - Cell 2
DNFRiccardo Zoidl (Austria)Row 163 - Cell 2
DNFNatnael Berhane (Eritrea)Row 164 - Cell 2
DNFMekseb Debesay (Eritrea)Row 165 - Cell 2
DNFDaniil Fominykh (Kazakhstan)Row 166 - Cell 2
DNFCarlos Galviz (Venezuela)Row 167 - Cell 2
DNFCarlos Jose Ochoa (Venezuela)Row 168 - Cell 2
DNFXavier Quevedo (Venezuela)Row 169 - Cell 2
DNFAzzedine Lagab (Algeria)Row 170 - Cell 2
DNFOleg Berdos (Romania)Row 171 - Cell 2
DNFAndrei Nechita (Romania)Row 172 - Cell 2
DNFSerghei Tvetcov (Romania)Row 173 - Cell 2
DNFPhilip Deignan (Ireland)Row 174 - Cell 2
DNFAlo Jakin (Estonia)Row 175 - Cell 2
DNFGert Joeaar (Estonia)Row 176 - Cell 2
DNFRein Taaramae (Estonia)Row 177 - Cell 2
DNFJacques Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)Row 178 - Cell 2
DNFAleksejs Saramotins (Latvia)Row 179 - Cell 2
DNFToms Skujins (Latvia)Row 180 - Cell 2
DNFGreg Henderson (New Zealand)Row 181 - Cell 2
DNFRafael Andriato (Brazil)Row 182 - Cell 2
DNFCristian Egidio Da Rosa (Brazil)Row 183 - Cell 2
DNFMurilo Antonio Fischer (Brazil)Row 184 - Cell 2
DNFEmanuel Kiserlovski (Croatia)Row 185 - Cell 2
DNFMatija Kvasina (Croatia)Row 186 - Cell 2
DNFYukiya Arashiro (Japan)Row 187 - Cell 2
DNFYukihiro Doi (Japan)Row 188 - Cell 2
DNFJuan Carlos Rojas Villegas (Costa Rica)Row 189 - Cell 2
DNFLucas Gaday Orozco (Argentina)Row 190 - Cell 2
DNFMaximiliano Ariel Richeze (Argentina)Row 191 - Cell 2
DNFEduardo Sepulveda (Argentina)Row 192 - Cell 2
DNFRyan Anderson (Canada)Row 193 - Cell 2
DNFChristian Meier (Canada)Row 194 - Cell 2
DNFMichael Woods (Canada)Row 195 - Cell 2
DNFSegundo Navarrete (Ecuador)Row 196 - Cell 2
DNFTobias Ludvigsson (Sweden)Row 197 - Cell 2
DNFGeorgios Bouglas (Greece)Row 198 - Cell 2
DNFYauheni Hutarovich (Belarus)Row 199 - Cell 2
DNFKanstantsin Siutsou (Belarus)Row 200 - Cell 2
DNFIgnatas Konovalovas (Lithuania)Row 201 - Cell 2
DNFZydrunas Savickas (Lithuania)Row 202 - Cell 2
DNFGatis Smukulis (Latvia)Row 203 - Cell 2

 

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Daniel Benson

Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.

Latest on Cyclingnews