Kasia Niewiadoma achieves podium dream at Tour de France Femmes but wants more

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Kasia Niewiadoma summed up her overall podium finish in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as the stuff of dreams but exits the race with one crucial regret.

The 27-year-old Pole finished the eight-day event third overall, 6:35 behind overall winner Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team). She was 2:47 minutes behind second-placed Demi Vollering (SD Worx).

“We didn’t have enough time to let it sink in, but definitely finishing in the top three overall in the Tour de France with Zwift is something I’ve dreamed of ever since I found out we were racing in our calendar,” she said at the press conference after the race on Sunday. “I’m overjoyed, very happy and proud of my teammates.”

The Canyon//SRAM rider finished third on stage two, sixth on stage three, then seventh and fifth on the last two days in the high mountains. She showed a consistency some didn’t expect and also a flair for high mountain racing she didn’t know she had.

Still, she has one day when things just didn’t go to plan.

“I wish I hadn’t crashed on stage three and reached the last kilometer fresher and been able to fight for the win,” she said. “I think that was a heartbreaking period for me in a way.”

She finished five seconds behind Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope) that day and was one of four drivers at the time. A little more in the final could have made the difference in her opinion.

Looking at the race as a whole, she said she saw it as a two-part event. Apart from day one, when she finished 18th in Paris, she has been in the top three in the overall standings the whole time. In fact, she was second overall after Friday’s stage six and said it’s about holding out as best you can until Sunday’s grand finale at La Super Planche des Belles Filles.

Annemiek van Vleuten’s (Movistar Team) hill climb on Saturday knocked her down a place overall, but she was happy with how she handled terrain that she felt didn’t suit her strengths.

“Personally, I enjoyed the first few days, I like explosive, powerful climbs,” she said. “So that’s what we had in the first six stages, I would say. It was something we really enjoyed. The last two stages were all about survival, I’d say.”\

“This week has been extremely tough,” she said. “I was super happy that I recovered a bit after my first part of the season and then came six weeks just to prepare for this race with no racing or additional travel. So I felt like my body could withstand all those hard efforts and high speeds.

“I would definitely say it was one of the toughest races we have ever ridden, especially with yesterday’s stage. Today was about survival and pushing boundaries.”

Rating of the Tour de France women

This year, the Tour de France Femmes was held for the first time. There have been previous versions of the race, notably the 1980s editions held alongside the men’s race, but also many years without such an event.

La Course made its debut in 2014 and in the years since Tour organizers ASO started running it as a one or two day race. This year marks the first time that the company has duly fulfilled a stage race commitment made a few years ago.

Niewiadoma is very encouraged by what she has seen, including the reception of those who turned up to watch the horsemen.

“It was incredible to see all the fans lining the roadside. I feel like we received a lot of energy and that also motivated us to go harder and push our limits,” she said. “It was also very special to receive a lot of attention from social media and TV. So it was very nice to find ourselves in a situation where we were giving to the public and the public was giving back to us.”

“I am incredibly happy to have finished third at GC. It was a team goal and my personal goal, and to actually achieve my goal this time is just so, so satisfying. I am grateful to the team and my teammates.” @KNiewiadoma. #TDFF #Take the lead pic.twitter.com/xBNGGQo7CD

— CANYON//SRAM Racing & CANYON//SRAM Generation (@WMNcycling) July 31, 2022

Looking ahead to the years to come, she was asked if there was anything she would like to see at the event.

“I don’t have anything on my mind to say right now, to be honest,” she replied. “I can definitely see this race developing into 10 stages or maybe even a 2 week stage race. So far I feel like we all enjoyed the race. It was a very special experience and it was nice to feel it for yourself because a lot of people are talking about this race, how great it is and how special and how much attention the race gets. So it was nice to find yourself in the position of a driver and basically feel it.”

Van Vleuten dominated the event and said after Saturday’s stage that part of the reason is that over her long career she has built up a tolerance for training and this has allowed her to work harder than her peers.

Niewiadoma, now 27, was asked how she would react to the suggestion. She responded by focusing on herself and what she can do going forward to try and get closer to the yellow jersey.

“I think for most of my career I’ve focused on short, hard-hitting efforts, something that could very well prepare me for the classics,” she said. “I never really focused on long climbs because I doubted my ability to do them.

“Having spent a couple of weeks in the mountains preparing for this race, I knew the last two stages were going to be extremely tough. I know I can improve with the right training and preparation.”

She finishes the race very happy with her overall performance but will get additional motivation from this realization of the big climbs.

She knows that there is still room for improvement in the high mountains and she will work towards that goal over the next few years leading up to the next edition of the Tour de France Femmes.