Niewiadoma-Phinney is impressively consistent in getting in the right moves and making races hard, as she did on Saturday, escaping with Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) over Omloop's final climbs, but her sprint seems to consistently let her down.
"Of course, it's hard to be again watching the winner just in front of me, but Demi was very strong and super fast at the end," she said post-race, though she did also say she was "happy to start the Classics with a podium".
"Leading towards the Muur, I didn't have the best position. There was a crash just before that, so I spent a lot of energy just to get to the front and then make it over. It was a perfect Classic day: chaotic, rainy, windy, cold, so I'm happy that we finished it off with a podium."
My view
Matilda Price
Niewiadoma-Phinney is always gracious and often positive in defeat, but it must be getting pretty frustrating that if there's any kind of sprint, she knows she's not going to win. As she goes on to say, she probably needs to spend more time not just going with the strong riders, but actually making the effort to go solo if she actually wants to win. Easier said than done, of course.
Niewiadoma-Phinney successfully navigated the pre-Muur chaos that took Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) out of contention to follow Vollering's acceleration on the climb – the only rider who was able to do so – but her own incident in the run-in to the ascent also cost her on the way to the finish.
"Just before the Muur, I dropped the chain and hit my knee against the handlebar, so I feel like the main thing in my head was just the stupid pain in my knee, so I was trying to let it go and cooperate [with Vollering]," she said. "It slightly goes down [after the Bosberg], so it's not to my benefit to put the pure power down because I'm a bit of a lighter person. Demi was definitely more powerful on that section."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
That said, Niewiadoma-Phinney didn't blame her sprint on her knee pain, clearly recognising her weakness in that field.
"When your knee hurts, it's not great, but Demi is very fast, and I'm not known to be a sprinter, so for me to win a sprint, I need to practice more with my husband or just go solo," she smiled.
Despite this positive Opening Weekend performance, Niewiadoma-Phinney is reportedly set to do a few cobbled Classics going forward, likely focusing on Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and the Ardennes rather than the flatter races in Belgium.
Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We'll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. Find out more.
Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. She has reported on the ground at all of the biggest events on the calendar, including the men's and women's Tours de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Vuelta a Espana, the Spring Classics and the World Championships. She has particular experience and expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
