Katarzyna Niewiadoma

Katarzyna Niewiadoma
Katarzyna "Kasia" Niewiadoma (born 29 September 1994) is a Polish racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Among her eighteen professional wins are the Amstel Gold Race in 2019, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio in 2018, and The Women's Tour stage race in 2017. She is a former national champion in both the Polish National Road Race Championships and the Polish National Time Trial Championships, winning both in 2016.
Early years
Born in Limanowa, Niewiadoma started racing bikes with local club WLKS Krakus BBC Czaja and soon emerged as one of the most promising women riders in Poland with TKK Pacific Toruń. In 2013, she won two national Under-23 champion titles, finishing 4th overall in both the time trial and road race events. She also finished 5th in the under-23 road race at the European Road Championships.
Following these performances, she received an offer from professional team and became a stagiaire in September 2013. She participated in the Holland Ladies Tour, finishing 10th overall and winning the young rider classification. Niewiadoma was also selected for the road race at the UCI Road World Championships but she did not finish.
Professional career
Rabo–Liv (2014–2017)
2014
Niewiadoma signed a one-year contract with in October 2013 and made her debut in the professional ranks in February 2014. She took her first victory four months later, winning the Swiss race GP du Canton d'Argovie. Preparing for the Giro d'Italia Femminile, Niewiadoma participated in the Polish National Championships, taking bronze in the time trial and finishing 8th in the road race. Her climbing abilities proved to be an asset for the team at the Giro d'Italia Femminile, as she worked for the final victory of Marianne Vos on the mountain stages in the Alps. She finished 11th overall, and 3rd in the young rider classification, marking a successful debut in the biggest race of the elite women's calendar in her first year as a professional.
Niewiadoma then went on to take her first podium spot in a stage race. Together with Anna van der Breggen and Vos she dominated racing during the inaugural edition of the Ladies Tour of Norway and placed 3rd, winning the young rider and mountains classifications. In September, she signed a two-year contract extension with the team and concluded preparations for the World Championships with a start in the Premondiale Giro della Toscana, placing 8th overall. On a hilly World Championships route in Ponferrada, Spain, she led the Polish team in the road race, coming to the finish in 11th place after a sprint from the selected group.
2015
In her second year as a professional, Niewiadoma shone as one of the best young riders in the peloton, giving Poland results it had never had in women's cycling. She once again demonstrated her climbing abilities with 6th place in the inaugural edition of the Strade Bianche Donne, and 5th in the prestigious World Cup race La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. She also took a podium spot in the Holland Hills Classic, finishing behind Lizzie Armitstead and Emma Johansson. In June she won the Emakumeen Euskal Bira, a five-day stage race in the Basque Country, and won silver in the women's road race at the European Games.
Despite being only 20, Niewiadoma started the season's biggest race – the Giro Rosa – as one of 's leaders, alongside world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Anna van der Breggen. She assumed the lead of the young rider classification following the second stage, and held on to the top places on the mountain stages. She then clocked the fifth-fastest time on the demanding route of the penultimate stage, a time trial, and rose to fourth overall with the final stage – culminating in a summit finish – remaining. The long climb to proved decisive and Niewiadoma crossed the line in 7th, dropping to 5th overall – although she won the white jersey for best young rider and contributed towards Van der Breggen's overall success. With those results under her belt Niewiadoma led the Polish national team at the UEC European Road Championships in Tartu, Estonia and took gold in the women's under-23 road race, bridging to the leading group on the last lap and claiming the sprint ahead of Italy's Ilaria Sanguineti and fellow riders Thalita de Jong and Anouska Koster. She concluded the season at the World Championships in Richmond, Virginia, being a part of a squad that secured bronze in the team time trial. She also led the Polish team in the road race, and sprinted to 7th place.
2016
Niewiadoma improved on her previous result at Strade Bianche – the first event to be held as part of the UCI Women's World Tour – finishing second to Lizzie Armitstead in Siena. She added further top-ten finishes at World Tour level, with seventh at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio, and tenth at the Tour of Flanders, before taking her first win of the season at the Ronde van Gelderland in a three-rider sprint against Natalie van Gogh and Lieselot Decroix. After a fourth-place finish at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, Niewiadoma took a stage victory and the general classification at the Festival Luxembourgeois du cyclisme féminin Elsy Jacobs. She then followed this up with another stage win and general classification double, at the Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol. At the Polish National Championships, Niewiadoma won both the time trial and road race titles – she won the time trial by 24 seconds ahead of Katarzyna Pawłowska, and the road race by 44 seconds ahead of Anna Plichta.
Moving onto the Giro d'Italia Femminile, Niewiadoma spent a portion of the race in second place overall, before losing more than four minutes on the fifth stage, which dropped her to ninth place; she eventually recovered to seventh overall, winning the young rider classification. She was part of the leading group during the road race at the Rio Olympics, but was unable to follow moves by five other riders, and missed out on a medal; she ultimately finished in sixth place. A fourth-place finish at the GP de Plouay – Bretagne followed later in August, before a fifth-place overall finish at the Holland Ladies Tour. Niewiadoma also won two stages during the race, as well as the points and young rider classifications. She then won two medals at the UEC European Road Championships in France – she won a silver medal in the women's road race, being beaten in the sprint to the line by her teammate Anna van der Breggen; however, she won a gold medal in the concurrent race for under-23 riders, as the only such rider in the lead group overall.
2017
Niewiadoma's spring campaign in the 2017 season saw no wins, but she did record four podium finishes – all coming in UCI Women's World Tour events. Just as she did in 2016, Niewiadoma finished second in Strade Bianche, with Elisa Longo Borghini getting the better of her in the closing metres. In the Ardennes classics, Niewiadoma took three third-place finishes, finishing behind Anna van der Breggen and Lizzie Deignan on each occasion. At the Amstel Gold Race – returning the calendar following a 14-year hiatus – Niewiadoma, Longo Borghini and Deignan were clear of the peloton on the final circuit around Valkenburg aan de Geul, before being caught by Van der Breggen, Annemiek van Vleuten and Coryn Rivera with around remaining. Van der Breggen soloed away to the victory not long after; in the sprint for second, Deignan prevailed, while Niewiadoma and Van Vleuten could not be separated in the photo finish, and thus shared third place. At La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, Niewiadoma attacked inside the final , on the , with only Deignan and Van der Breggen able to follow. Deignan forced Niewiadoma's hand with an attack before the Mur de Huy, with her teammate Van der Breggen ultimately pulling clear prior to the final ascent. Lastly, at Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes, Niewiadoma was combative, attacking on each of the last two climbs. With Van der Breggen eventually soloing clear to another victory, Deignan and Niewiadoma did battle for second place, with honours ultimately going to Deignan.
Niewiadoma's next start was at The Women's Tour, where she won the opening stage after a nearly solo breakaway, with a winning margin of 1 minute, 42 seconds over teammate Marianne Vos. Niewiadoma maintained her overall lead for the remainder of the race, ultimately winning the race by 1 minute, 18 seconds ahead of Christine Majerus, and moved atop of the UCI Women's World Tour rankings. She led the team at the Giro d'Italia Femminile, where she finished in sixth place overall, and ceded the World Tour lead to Van der Breggen. She finished ninth in La Course by Le Tour de France, seventh overall at the Holland Ladies Tour, and concluded her season with fifth place in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships, having been part of the lead group in the closing . Niewiadoma ultimately finished the season in third place in the overall UCI Women's World Tour standings.
Canyon–SRAM (2018–present)
In July 2017, Niewiadoma was announced to be joining the team for the 2018 season, signing an initial three-year deal.
2018
Niewiadoma made her first start with at February's Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, where she finished seventh overall and also aided teammate Hannah Barnes towards her overall victory. A third consecutive second-place finish at Strade Bianche followed; having been dropped by Anna van der Breggen and Elisa Longo Borghini on the penultimate gravel sector, she later rejoined Longo Borghini before dropping her in the final kilometre. A couple of weeks later, she won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio, after an solo move; in the process, she moved into the lead of the UCI Women's World Tour rankings. After another top-ten finish at the Tour of Flanders, Niewiadoma returned to the podium at the Tour of California, finishing third on the second stage to South Lake Tahoe, and ultimately third overall in the race.
During the summer months, Niewiadoma recorded finishes of seventh overall at the Giro Rosa, sixth at La Course by Le Tour de France, and fifth overall at the Ladies Tour of Norway, also winning the mountains classification in Norway. Niewiadoma's last warm-up race prior to the UCI Road World Championships was the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche; she won the fifth stage which finished with a summit finish at Mont Lozère, before finishing second to Ruth Winder in Montboucher-sur-Jabron the following day, while gaining 46 seconds on race leader Margarita Victoria García. Taking a 41-second lead into the final stage, Niewiadoma gained further time on García, ultimately finishing 1 minute, 28 seconds clear in the general classification and she also won the mountains classification. In the World Championships, Niewiadoma finished more than seven minutes down on race winner Van der Breggen, in twelfth place.
2019
For the fourth year in a row, Niewiadoma finished in the podium placings at Strade Bianche, adding a third-place finish to her three second-place finishes. Over March and April, Niewiadoma recorded six top-ten finishes (four of which were sixth-place finishes), peaking with victory at the Amstel Gold Race. Niewiadoma attacked on the last ascent of the Cauberg with former teammate Marianne Vos, before pulling clear with a gap of a few seconds over Annemiek van Vleuten; Van Vleuten attempted to close down the margin in the final but Niewiadoma was able to hold on for her second Women's World Tour one-day victory, after her earlier success at the 2018 Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio.
After a fifth-place overall finish at the Tour of California, Niewiadoma jointly led the team at The Women's Tour with home rider Hannah Barnes. On the fourth stage, which included three ascents in the Burton Dassett Hills (including the race's first hilltop finish), Niewiadoma outsprinted Liane Lippert to the finish line for the victory, moving up to second place overall but on the same time as Lippert. The following day, Niewiadoma finished second to Lizzie Deignan in Builth Wells, with Deignan taking the race lead by one second ahead of Niewiadoma; Deignan added a further second to her advantage on the final day, to take the general classification by its closest winning margin to that point. Niewiadoma did come away from the race with the mountains classification, edging out Christine Majerus by one point.
won the opening stage team time trial at the Giro Rosa, and with Niewiadoma being the first of the team's riders to cross the finish line in Castellania Coppi, she assumed the race leader's pink jersey for the first time in her career. She held the race lead until the fifth stage, when Van Vleuten won by almost three minutes to overturn a previous gap of forty-seven seconds. Niewiadoma's main time loss came on the penultimate stage, finishing at the , losing almost four minutes compared to Van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen, dropping her from third to sixth overall; she did regain fifth place in the general classification on the final stage, finishing almost eight minutes down on Van Vleuten. She finished fourth overall at August's Ladies Tour of Norway, but finished outside the top-20 in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire, stating that she had "mentally cracked" during the race. She also extended her contract with until the end of the 2021 season.
2020
Niewiadoma's 2020 season started following the COVID-19 pandemic-enforced suspension of racing, failing to finish at Strade Bianche for the first time in her career. She won her second elite European Road Championships medal, winning a bronze medal in the road race in Plouay, having been part of a four-rider breakaway alongside Annemiek van Vleuten, Elisa Longo Borghini and Chantal Blaak. She again made into the race-winning move at La Course by Le Tour de France two days later, but missed the podium with fourth in the small group sprint. At the Giro Rosa, Niewiadoma spent almost the entire race in the top-three placings, recording two top-three stage finishes on her way to second place overall, behind Anna van der Breggen; she wore the race leader's pink jersey on stage eight, as the overnight leader Van Vleuten withdrew due to injuries suffered in a crash during the finish to the previous stage. Prior to the end of the season, Niewiadoma finished seventh in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships, and tenth at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine.
2021
Having missed the podium with a fourth-place finish at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio, Niewiadoma finished second in a sprint-à-deux with Annemiek van Vleuten in Dwars door Vlaanderen. In April 2021, Niewiadoma signed a new three-year contract with , extending her tenure with the team until the end of the 2024 season. Three top-ten finishes in the Ardennes classics followed, with her best result being another sprint-à-deux loss, this time to Anna van der Breggen, at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. Further fourth-place finishes came at the Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes and the Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria, before missing out on a stage victory at the Vuelta a Burgos Feminas to Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig. After a sixth-place finish at La Course by Le Tour de France, Niewiadoma elected to forego participation in the Giro Rosa, instead concentrating on the road race at the COVID-19 pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics. Niewiadoma ultimately finished outside the top ten placings, a result that left her "disappointed".
A fourth second-place finish in 2021 occurred for Niewiadoma during the penultimate stage of August's Holland Ladies Tour, missing out to former teammate Marianne Vos. She finished sixth overall at the Challenge by La Vuelta, before contesting the road race at the UEC European Road Championships, where she just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth. Niewiadoma's near-miss was not repeated a fortnight later in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in the Flanders region of Belgium. Niewiadoma launched several attacks on the circuits in and around Leuven, but was not able to gain clear ground, and the race came back together for a reduced group sprint; despite her attacks, Niewiadoma had enough energy to contend for the medals, and secured a bronze medal behind Elisa Balsamo and Vos, for her first individual World Championships medal. She finished the season with a crash and DNF at Paris–Roubaix Femmes, suffering a sore knee in the process.
2022
Niewiadoma did not grace a race podium until April's Brabantse Pijl, where she outsprinted Liane Lippert for second place behind the race winner, Demi Vollering. At The Women's Tour in June, Niewiadoma finished both of the Welsh stages in second place; on stage four, she was beaten by Grace Brown, while Elisa Longo Borghini beat Niewiadoma the following day. In the final general classification, Longo Borghini beat Brown by one second, with Niewiadoma in third place, five seconds in arrears. In July, she was named as one of the pre-race favourites for the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes, and eventually finished third overall, having recorded five top-ten stage finishes and been in the top-three overall from the second stage. She concluded her season with tenth overall at the Challenge by La Vuelta, and then eighth place in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships, having attacked late on.
2023
Having not won a race since 2019, Niewiadoma attempted to break her win hoodoo in the spring classics, however her best results were fourth in the Amstel Gold Race, and fifth in the Tour of Flanders. She returned to the podium at the Itzulia Women, finishing third on the opening stage and ultimately, third overall behind teammates Marlen Reusser and Demi Vollering.
In October, Niewiadoma won the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships with a solo attack in the final 25 km to beat Silvia Persico and Demi Vollering over a 140 km course in Veneto, Italy.
Personal life
Since 2016, Niewiadoma has been in a relationship with American professional cyclist Taylor Phinney.
Major results
Source:
Gravel
2023
1st UCI World Championships
1st Big Sugar
Road
2011
Klomnice
1st Road race
9th Time trial
UEC European Junior Championships
8th Road race
10th Time trial
2012
2nd Time trial, National Junior Championships
Klomnice
7th Time trial
8th Road race
2013
1st National Hill Climb Championships
2nd Overall Langenloiser Radrenntage (ARBO Cup)
Klomnice
3rd Road race
3rd Time trial
National Championships
4th Road race
4th Time trial
4th Overall Górski Walbrzyski Wyscig Kolarski
4th Cup of Poland – Postomino (ITT)
5th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Championships
7th Overall Tour de Feminin – O cenu Českého Švýcarska
10th Overall Holland Ladies Tour
1st Young rider classification
2014
1st GP du Canton d'Argovie
1st Frauen Prolog Grand Prix Gippingen
3rd Overall Tour of Norway
1st Mountains classification
1st Young rider classification
3rd Time trial, National Championships
8th Overall Giro della Toscana Int. Femminile – Memorial Michela Fanini
8th Overall Holland Ladies Tour
9th Omloop van het Hageland
2015
UEC European Under-23 Championships
1st Road race
5th Time trial
1st Overall Emakumeen Euskal Bira
1st Mountains classification
2nd Road race, European Games
National Championships
2nd Time trial
4th Road race
2nd Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
UCI World Championships
3rd Team time trial
7th Road race
3rd Holland Hills Classic
5th Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
1st Young rider classification
5th Overall Belgium Tour
5th La Flèche Wallonne
6th Strade Bianche
2016
UEC European Championships
1st Under-23 road race
2nd Road race
National Championships
1st Road race
1st Time trial
1st Young rider classification, UCI Women's World Tour
1st Overall Festival Luxembourgeois du cyclisme féminin Elsy Jacobs
1st Young rider classification
1st Stage 2
1st Overall Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol
1st Mountains classification
1st Young rider classification
1st Stages 1 & 2a (TTT)
1st Ronde van Gelderland
2nd Strade Bianche
4th GP de Plouay
4th La Flèche Wallonne
5th Overall Holland Ladies Tour
1st Points classification
1st Young rider classification
1st Stages 3 & 6
6th Road race, Olympic Games
7th Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
1st Young rider classification
7th Trofeo Alfredo Binda
8th Giro dell'Emilia
10th Tour of Flanders
2017
1st Overall The Women's Tour
1st Stage 1
2nd Strade Bianche
3rd Amstel Gold Race
3rd Overall UCI Women's World Tour
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
5th Road race, UCI World Championships
6th Overall Giro d'Italia Femminile
7th Overall Holland Ladies Tour
8th Tour of Flanders
8th Trofeo Alfredo Binda
9th Dwars door Vlaanderen
9th La Course by Le Tour de France
2018
1st Overall Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche
1st Mountains classification
1st Combination classification
1st Stage 5
1st Trofeo Alfredo Binda
2nd Strade Bianche
3rd Overall Tour of California
5th Overall Tour of Norway
1st Mountains classification
6th La Course by Le Tour de France
7th Overall Setmana Ciclista Valenciana
7th Overall Giro Rosa
8th Dwars door Vlaanderen
9th Tour of Flanders
10th GP de Plouay
2019
1st Amstel Gold Race
2nd Overall The Women's Tour
1st Mountains classification
1st Stage 4
3rd Strade Bianche
4th Overall Tour of Norway
5th Overall Tour of California
5th Overall Giro Rosa
1st Stage 1 (TTT)
6th Trofeo Alfredo Binda
6th Tour of Flanders
6th La Flèche Wallonne
6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
10th Dwars door Vlaanderen
2020
2nd Overall Giro Rosa
3rd Road race, UEC European Championships
4th La Course by Le Tour de France
7th Road race, UCI World Championships
10th La Flèche Wallonne
2021
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
2nd Dwars door Vlaanderen
3rd Road race, UCI World Championships
4th Road race, UEC European Championships
4th Trofeo Alfredo Binda
4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
4th Durango-Durango Emakumeen Saria
6th Overall Challenge by La Vuelta
6th La Course by Le Tour de France
8th Overall BeNe Ladies Tour
9th Strade Bianche
10th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
10th Amstel Gold Race
2022
2nd Brabantse Pijl
3rd Overall Tour de France
3rd Overall The Women's Tour
4th Strade Bianche
5th Amstel Gold Race
6th Overall Setmana Ciclista Valenciana
8th Road race, UCI World Championships
8th Tour of Flanders
9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
10th Overall Challenge by La Vuelta
2023
3rd Overall Tour de France
1st Mountains classification
Combativity award Stage 7
3rd Overall Itzulia Women
4th Amstel Gold Race
4th Overall Tour De Suisse
5th Tour of Flanders
6th Strade Bianche
10th Overall La Vuelta Femenina
General classification results timeline
Classics results timeline
References
External links
1994 births
Living people
Polish female cyclists
Olympic cyclists for Poland
Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
European Games medalists in cycling
European Games silver medalists for Poland
Cyclists at the 2015 European Games
People from Limanowa
Sportspeople from Lesser Poland Voivodeship