Full name Michal Kwiatkowski Rider type All-rounder Name Michal Kwiatkowski Height 1.76 m Current team Team Quick Step | Discipline Road 2010 Caja Rural Role Bicycler Weight 68 kg | |
Nickname Flowerman, Kwiatek, Kwiato, Flower Power, Kwiatpolski Born 2 June 1990 (age 33)
Dzialyn, Poland ( 1990-06-02 ) 2009 MG Kvis – Norda Pacific Parents Agnieszka Kwiatkowska, Wojciech Kwiatkowski Siblings Radoslaw Kwiatkowski, Maja Kwiatkowska, Ewelina Kwiatkowska Profiles | ||
Michal Kwiatkowski's NEW Pinarello Dogma F8
Michał Kwiatkowski ( [ˈmixaw kfjatˈkɔfski], born 2 June 1990) is a Polish professional road bicycle racer for UCI WorldTeam Team Sky. Kwiatkowski is seen as a strong all rounder, with good sprinting, time-trialling and climbing abilities allowing him to win both stage races and one day classics. His talent was shown early in his career, winning the World Junior Time Trial Championships in 2008. In 2014, Kwiatkowski became the world elite road race champion, and he was also a member of the Omega Pharma–Quick-Step team that won the 2013 World Team Time Trial Championships. In 2017 he won his first 'Monument', the 2017 Milan-San Remo.
Contents
- Michal Kwiatkowskis NEW Pinarello Dogma F8
- Micha kwiatkowski better faster stronger
- Early career
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- Personal awards
- References
Micha kwiatkowski better faster stronger
Early career
Kwiatkowski is a double European champion, winning the road race in 2007 and the individual time trial in 2008. In 2009 he became national road champion in the under-23 category, and he also won a stage of the Okolo Slovenska. He turned professional in 2010 with Caja Rural and in 2011 joined Team RadioShack, and placed third overall in the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, the Three Days of De Panne and the Tour du Poitou-Charentes.
2012
Kwiatkowski moved to Omega Pharma–Quick-Step for the 2012 season. He impressed in his first year with the team, winning the prologue of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. He also finished second overall in his home race, the Tour de Pologne, and eighth overall in the Eneco Tour.
2013
Kwiatkowski began the 2013 season in excellent form, placing second overall in the Volta ao Algarve. He then finished fourth overall in Tirreno–Adriatico, and won the young rider classification, after proving one of the strongest climbers in the race. He finished fourth at the summit finish of Prati di Tivo to take the overall race lead from team-mate Mark Cavendish, before surrendering it the next day. Kwiatkowski then rode a strong classics campaign, placing fourth in the Amstel Gold Race and fifth in La Flèche Wallonne. In June, he won the senior National Road Race Championships for the first time.
Kwiatkowski's excellent form saw him selected to ride the Tour de France. He wore the white jersey – of young rider classification leader – in the first week after coming third on Stage 2 and fourth on Stage 3, both reduced bunch sprints. On Stage 7 he came in fourth again. On Stage 9 (a high mountain stage) he reached the podium once again. With a strong time trial, he was able to regain the white jersey of the young rider classification on Stage 11, but lost the lead shortly after to Nairo Quintana. Even though he lost the white jersey, he still managed to finish 11th in his Tour debut.
2014
In 2014, Kwiatkowski won the Italian Classic Strade Bianche. He followed a strong attack from Peter Sagan with 20 kilometres (12 miles) to go and the pair cooperated well until Kwiatkowski dropped Sagan on the final climb to Siena. He placed on the third step of the podium in Liège–Bastogne–Liège as well as in La Flèche Wallonne and fifth in the Amstel Gold Race.
In September, he grabbed the leader's jersey of the Tour of Britain by winning the fourth stage in a select group sprint of 6 riders. Overall he placed second in the general classification and first in the points classification.
Later that same month he became the first Polish cyclist to win the UCI Road Race World Championships. Kwiatkowski made a solo attack about 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) from the finish line on a downhill section. Despite a late chase, he was able to hold the lead and coast across the finish line, winning the rainbow jersey. After the race, Kwiatkowski posted his winning ride on Strava, which helped determine his statistics for the event. He climbed 5,106 metres (16,752 feet) and burned 6,338 kilocalories (26,520 kilojoules) during the course of 6:29:45, producing an average power of 240 watts with an average heartbeat of 148 beats per minute. He rode his first race in the rainbow jersey at Il Lombardia and finished 77th.
2015
Being reigning world champion, Kwiatkowski tended to start the 2015 year with a less aggressive approach than 2014 for the bigger race later on in the year. He used the Volta ao Algarve and Paris–Nice as warm up races to prepare for the classics campaign, finishing second overall in both events. In April, Kwiatkowski earned a prestigious victory at the Amstel Gold Race. After the last climb of the Cauberg, he had to work to join a small group led by Philippe Gilbert. Before the finish line, a regrouping of about fifteen riders formed and Kwiatkowski outsprinted them to add the Dutch classic to his palmarès.
He abandoned the 2015 Tour de France during Stage 17.
2016
On 27 September 2015, Team Sky announced the signing of Kwiatkowski for the 2016 season. On 25 March 2016, Kwiatkowski won his first cobbled classic, E3 Harelbeke, by outsprinting Peter Sagan after the pair broke away from an elite group with 30 kilometres (19 miles) remaining. He was named in the startlist for the 2016 Vuelta a España, but he abandoned on stage 7.