Just caught up on this story got a good team and Poland have some great riders. Plenty of stage wins already and a brilliant 4th in Tirreno for super Michal
Giro d'Italia is up next guys. I'll be doing it in blocks of stages. Not decided exactly how many in a block but I'll work it out as I go along. I'll also be doing one or two article pieces, probably on the rest days, with mini interviews with the riders and myself as the DS.
sutty68 wrote:
The wins will soon be in double figures
Hope so! They've dried up a bit of late, haven't even threatened a win lately. :/
MrTeamSky wrote:
Just caught up on this story got a good team and Poland have some great riders. Plenty of stage wins already and a brilliant 4th in Tirreno for super Michal
Thanks. Yes Michal was very impressive in Tirreno. Good prep for the Giro where he'll lead the team.
New to the World Tour in 2013, LOT Polish Airlines believe they can cause an upset in Italy
The new Polish cycling project may have only made ripples rather than waves in the early stages of this year’s season, but directeur sportif Daniel Cox believes the nine riders representing the team at the Giro can make a significant breakthrough.
“We’re taking a very strong team to the Giro, there won’t be any passengers. We’ll have a strong artillery to really attack in the mountains, I think a few teams will be surprised. Anyone who thinks we’ll be sitting at the back enjoying our first grand tour and making up the numbers is badly mistaken.”
In bullish mood, Cox explained that nominal team leader, Michal Kwiatkowski, is an unknown quantity who could shake things up at the head of the general classification.
“Michal has obviously performed well this season, particularly at Tirreno, but nobody in the peloton really understands his massive potential. His performance in this Giro could genuinely be scarily good, and I think other riders and teams will be worried about that. But we’re not going to put too much pressure on him, he’ll ride his own race and see how far it’ll take him.”
Cox went on to outline how the team would approach the Giro tactically, without wishing to disclose all his best laid plans to the other teams. He confirmed that LOT will be looking for a high placing on GC, but insisted the Polish outfit won’t be one dimensional, or predictable.
“Our focus will be to support Michal in his quest for a high GC finish. The win is most likely beyond him at this early stage of his career, but we genuinely believe he’s a strong top 5 contender. The difference will be the team, we’ve got Niemiec, Pirazzi, Pauwels, Tiralongo, and Marczynski who can all climb well. Tactically it will be interesting, some days we’ll try and stamp our authority on the race, other days we’ll react to what others do. We have options and we’ll keep people guessing.”
It won’t be just the GC and the mountains that LOT will be taking an interest in. Italian sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo, who has two wins to his name in LOT colours, will fight for stage victories on the flat too.
“Giacomo will be battling for victories on the flat stages, no doubt. It will be difficult though, he’ll have to freelance. Flens and Belkov will give as much support as they can but we won’t sacrifice anything or take liberties of our GC bid for this. Giacomo realises that and he’s ready for the fight, it won’t be at all easy.”
So what would constitute a successful Giro for LOT and Cox.....
“A top 5 placing in GC for sure. If we can grab a stage win or two at some point then we’d be over the moon. We’re hoping Michal can realise his potential. The Giro is the most suitable grand tour for him and he’ll be stronger in the next few years, but we want him to challenge right away in 2013. You have to be flexible and respond to the conditions of the race, so we’re adaptable with our aims if necessary.”
• Stage 1
A tough balancing act for us, trying to get Nizzolo up for the sprint and also protecting Kwiatkowski. As will be the template for all these flat sprint stages, we instructed our climbing domestiques - Marczynski, Niemiec, Pauwels, Pirazzi, and Tiralongo - to sit near the back of the peloton and expend no energy. Flens and Belkov were instructed to look after Kwiatkowski and also try and deliver Nizzolo too.
As to be expected, this was a very fast and active stage. It took a while for a 3 man breakaway to establish: Maaskant (Garmin-Sharp), Bertazzo (Androni), Hulsmans (Vini Fantini). And Maaskant wasn’t caught until 1km to go in a frenetic finish. Because of the messy chase, no team could organise themselves properly for a sprint team which played into our hands. It was about who could get the right wheel and NIZZOLO did, launching a superb sprint to come around Cavendish. What a start!
There was some sour news for us as with about 15km to go, there was a large crash midway through the peloton which took out Niemiec. He lost 4’52 which is a shame as he could have been our secondary option in GC, but he didn’t sustain any injury. Kwiatkowski came home safely in front of this crash and lost no time in 35th.
• Stage 2 (simulated)
Well just the one day in the Maglia Rosa for us but we’re really happy with this result. An excellent ride that keeps up right in the thick of things, whereas some GC contenders such as Hesjedal and Nibali lost a fair chunk of time.
1) OPQS (Velits)
2) Pinotti (BMC) +0’02
3) Radioshack Leopard +0’06 5) LOT Polish Airlines +0’18
• Stage 3
The weather took a turn for the worse on this tough stage. Morkov (Saxo-Tinkoff), Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp), and Rabottini (Vini Fantini) forged the day’s early breakaway. With points up for grabs at the intermediate sprint, Belkov brought Nizzolo up to the front. Cavendish took 4th place easily but Nizzolo clung on for 5th to snatch 2 points. OPQS set a brutal pace in pursuit of the breakaway but on the first categorised climb, a dangerous splinter group of 4 took off. The situation was diffused come the climb of the Sella Di Catona and we took over with Pirazzi and Kwiatkowski right at the head of the race.
As the race crested the climb, Henao had a slight lead over Pozzovivo and Kwiatkowski, with a 40 strong elite peloton 0’20 in arrears. HENAO surged ahead and his lead nearly reached a minute, but he faded the near finish and only just held on. Kwiatkowski revelled on this terrain and took a storming second, nabbing some nice bonus seconds. He also took over the young riders GC. The only negative point for us on this stage was Pirazzi being unable to hang onto the elite group. This means we now have no backup option in the General Classification.
Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 6: Pirazzi
Criterium International - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Criterium International - Stage 3: Majka
• Stage 4
Another stage suitable for Kwiatkowski and we kept everybody behind to support him. Burghardt (BMC), N. Sorensen (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Garate (Blanco) made the early breakaway. Nizzolo just held off Cavendish to take 4th in the intermediate sprint. Team Sky laid down a very fast pace after the sprint meaning the initial breakaway never had a sniff of victory. Other teams kept the pace extremely high, and on the final climb it became unstructured and chaotic. We struggled and Kwiatkowski was quickly isolated. But lots of teams and riders struggled so he wasn’t at any disadvantage. Thankfully Michal was in good enough shape to cling onto a group of 7 which crossed the summit with a nice advantage. It came down to a sprint which Nibali took on from a long way out.......and KWIATKOWSKI pipped him!! Two stage wins in four for us!! And the pink jersey again!! The biggest positive though is some massive time gaps opened up on the likes of Evans and Basso (+2’24) and Wiggins (+3’44). Uran and Henao are very dangerous though.
• Stage 5
Again a chance for Kwiatkowski here, and we at the very least expected him to hold onto pink without problems. Depending on how tough the final proved to be, Nizzolo could also be in the frame so we were well up for this. We were happy to allow a three man breakaway of Marcato (Vaconsoleil), Mouris (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Vaugrenard (FDJ.fr). Although we had a chance of another stage win here, we decided to only commit two riders to the chase and let other teams bring the break back if they wanted to. We were thinking about the long game. Others teams did take up the chase and on the final rise, Henao attacked. Kwiatkowski had to follow and just like the previous stage, a small elite group contested the sprint. This time Michal went quite early and just clung on to win from a fast finishing Uran. Superb KWIATKOWSKI reigns in Italy!
• Stage 6
Just four of our riders were asked to work and keep concentrated on this flat day; Flens, Belkov, Nizzolo and Kwiatkowski. Our five climbing domestiques were given the day off at the back of the peloton. We didn’t take any interest in chasing breakaway riders. The sprinters teams chased anything that moved in a fast first 50km before the race calmed down. The race was under such control that nobody escaped, the whole peloton just rode through the stage together. It made for a very dull race but it was a perfect for us. The only action before the finish came at the intermediate sprint with 40km to go, which Viviani took ahead of Cavendish and Sinkeldam. We decided to hold Nizzolo back and told him to just concentrate on the finishing sprint. And in that final, the result replicated the intermediate sprint, with VIVIANI impressively holding off Cavendish. Nizzolo’s 7th doesn’t reflect how well he sprinted. Unfortunately as he was freelancing he started his sprint from about 30th place. But the main thing about today was keeping Kwiatkowski safe an upright, which he did.
Australian National Championships: Cooke
Santos Tour Down Under - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca - Stage 4: Pauwels
Volta ao Algarve - Stage 3: Majka
Tirreno-Adriatico - Stage 6: Pirazzi
Criterium International - Stage 1: Nizzolo
Criterium International - Stage 3: Majka
