After 141 days since he last pinned a number on, Michał Kwiatkowski returned to racing at the Clásica San Sebastián on Saturday, after coming back from a knee injury that has seen him miss most of the season so far.
The Polish rider's lengthy recovery process sidelined him for the majority of the Spring Classics and the Tour de France, where he would have likely played a key role for his Ineos Grenadiers team.
In a social media post on Sunday morning, Kwiatkowski detailed not only his physical struggles but also the mental challenges that came with being out for such a long period of the season.
'I'd never been through anything like this in my career. A stubborn knee pain turned my life into a mental roller-coaster: nine weeks of fighting the pain and hunting for answers. One day you feel on top of the world, the next you wonder if it’s the end of the road,' he wrote.
The injury itself was believed to have been a consequence of a crash at Strade Bianche in March, where he suffered a similar incident to Tadej Pogačar that same day and was forced to abandon. The Polish rider fell on his left side through the same corner where the World Champion had also gone down earlier in the race, leaving him with severe road rash.
However, according to Kwiatkowski, this was not the cause of his injury, as it turned out to be a far more complex underlying issue, which then saw him abandon Tirreno-Adriatico the following week.
'After a long battle we finally traced the problem to a biomechanical issue - not the crash and its fallout like we first thought,' he clarified in his post.
Despite his injury woes, the 35-year-old veteran does already have a victory to his name in 2025, as he won the Clásica Jaén back in February to give Ineos Grenadiers their first win of the season.
As he continues his return to racing on home roads at the Tour de Pologne next week, Kwiatkowski seems keen to add another win to his tally before the end of the season.
'This injury taught me patience and reminded me how much the small wins matter. Now I'm hungry for every race number I pin on,' he stated. Also hinting at a possible Grand Tour appearance later this month, he went on to say 'if everything goes to plan, the Vuelta a España and a strong finish to the season are waiting.'
If he were to ride the Vuelta a España, it would be Kwiatkowski's first appearance since 2018, where he led the race and wore the maillot rojo for three stages. His only other participation came in 2016, where he also led the race for a single day and was part of the Team Sky squad that won the opening team time trial on stage 1.
Cyclingnews will have full coverage of the Tour de Pologne and the Vuelta a España.
