Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team rider Michal Kwiatkowski demonstrated both good legs and patience for the perfect moment at 262.9km Liège - Bastogne - Liège on Sunday. The combination resulted in a 3rd place finish for the 23-year-old Polish Champion.
Two riders — Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r - La Mondiale) — remained ahead after attacking on a climb, and got a 12" gap with 4.4km remaining. The peloton continued to shed riders as riders on the front kept trying to attack in the pursuit of the two riders. However, Kwiatkowski saved his energy for the right moment as the peloton was able to catch the two riders just in time for the final corner of the race.
Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) was closing in on the two riders when he crashed on that final corner. Kwiatkowski was forced to go around, and close a gap to Simon Gerrans (ORICA-GreenEDGE) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) as they went full gas to the line. Gerrans, however, had an impressive sprint and held on for the win. Valverde was 2nd and Kwiatkowski 3rd.
OPQS did a remarkable job for the entire race protecting Kwiatkowski, ensuring that he remained in the front in a race that allows no rest between the 10 climbs that included Cote de La Redoute and Cote de Saint-Nicolas.
Kwiatkowski has now been on two podiums out of the three Ardennes Classics, and this is his first podium in a cycling monument. He was also in the top 5 of Amstel Gold Race.
Kwiatkowski also moved up to 5th place in the UCI WorldTour Individual Ranking, with 244 points. OPQS remains in 1st place for the UCI WorldTour Team Ranking (693 points).
"I was aiming to be in really good shape for the Ardennes Classics and I did it," Kwiatkowski said. "Especially today, ending in 3rd in one of the most prestigious Belgian races, the 100th edition of Liège - Bastogne - Liège, on a Belgian team. It's special and I am super happy. If you feel good, sometimes it is difficult to wait. But I think I can count on my sprint and I was just waiting until the end. Especially if you have a lot of support from your teammates, which I did today, you can really believe that they will care for you the whole day and you just need to finish their work. It's pretty simple in that way. In the end, I believed the chance would be for the bunch sprint and I was waiting to see how we could make it. I believe in my possibilities, and especially today I am satisfied with what I did. Last year I made good results in these races but couldn't finish well here. So it was a little disappointing. But this year I prepared in a different way and today was my best day on the bike out of all the Ardennes Classics. It gives me great morale for the future knowing this."