Being beaten in a sprint feels like a familiar story for Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), and it was no different on the opening day of the Spring Classics as the Polish rider was defeated in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
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.
That was what happened in Ninove as Niewiadoma-Phinney let Vollering lead out the sprint in the finishing straight, hoping to pounce from behind, but ultimately had no punch left as the European champion easily sealed victory in the two-up finale.
"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
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."
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.
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