Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Michal Kwiatkowski had an impressive performance at the 153.4km Stage 1 of Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco on Monday, finishing 3rd in a very elite chasers group that included all the top GC contenders of the race.
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) won the stage, after accelerating out of the group with Kwiatkowski on the final Category 2 climb of the day. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) initially went with him, but as the duo were approaching the top of the climb, Contador accelerated again in a big gear to also drop Valverde. He went on to win solo over Valverde by 14 seconds.
Kwiatkowski finished 34" down on Contador, but two seconds ahead of five fellow chasers. Wout Poels also finished 14th (+58").
OPQS looks next to a 155.8km Stage 2 on Tuesday. The categorized climbs are earlier in the stage, but the profile remains undulating before descending all the way to the finish line.
"I am happy because it's important to have a good feeling in a race after a period of training," Kwiatkowski said. "After Milano-Sanremo I trained specifically in Calpe. Of course I am happy about this race about this race but here at Pais Vasco my goal is to get into the rhythm to try and be competitive for the Ardennes classics. For the rest we will see day by day. Returning to today's race, the attack of Contador was impressive. I thought it was better to try and keep my rhythm and not to try and follow them. It might have used too much energy to try. At a certain moment I thought it would maybe be possible to catch them in the downhill. But even from the top they went super fast. It was impossible for us to come back. In any case I am happy about my performance."