Michał Kwiatkowski

Michał Kwiatkowski

Kwiatkowski at the 2015 Grand Prix de Fourmies
Personal information
Full name	Michał Kwiatkowski
Nickname	Flowerman, Kwiatek,[1] Kwiato, Flower Power, Kwiatpolski
Born	(1990-06-02) 2 June 1990 Działyń, Poland
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Team information
Current team	Team Sky
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional team(s)
2009	MG Kvis – Norda Pacific
2010	Caja Rural
2011	Team RadioShack
2012–2015	Omega Pharma–Quick-Step[2]
2016–	Team Sky
Major wins
Stage races Volta ao Algarve (2014) One-day races and Classics World Road Race Championships (2014) World Team Time Trial Championships (2013) National Road Race Championships (2013) National Time Trial Championships (2014) Amstel Gold Race (2015) Strade Bianche (2014)
Medal record World Championships Competitor for  Poland 2014 Ponferrada Road race 2008 Cape Town Junior Time Trial Competitor for Etixx–Quick-Step 2013 Florence Team Time Trial 2015 Richmond Team Time Trial 2014 Ponferrada Team time trial
Infobox last updated on 20 September 2015

Michał Kwiatkowski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈmixaw kfjatˈkɔfski], born 2 June 1990) is a Polish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Etixx–Quick-Step.^[3] 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 in early career winning the World Junior Time Trial. In 2014, Kwiatkowski became the world champion of elite men's road race at the age of 24. He was also a member in the Omega Pharma-Quick-Step World Team Time Trial winning team in 2013.

Career

Early career

Kwiatkowski is a double European champion (road race 2007, time trial 2008). In 2009 he became national road champion in the under-23 category. He also won a stage of the Tour de Slovaquie. 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.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step (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 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 in the White Jersey at the 2013 Tour de France.

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 climber 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 his 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 ITT 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.^[4] Even though he lost the white jersey, he still managed to finish 11th in his Tour debut.^[5]

2014

In 2014, Kwiatkowski won the Italian Classic Strade Bianche. He followed a strong attack from Peter Sagan with 20 kilometers to go and the pair cooperated well until Kwiatkowski dropped Sagan on the final climb to Siena.^[6] He placed on the third step of the podium in the Liège–Bastogne–Liège as well as in La Flèche Wallonne and fifth in 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.^[7] Overall he placed second in the general classification and first in the points classification.^[8]

Kwiatkowski on the podium after winning the 2014 UCI World Championships Road Race

Later that same month he became the first Polish cyclist to win the UCI Road Race World Championship. Kwiatkowski made a solo attack about seven km 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.^[9] After the race, Kwiatkowski posted his winning ride on Strava, which helped determine his statistics for the event. He climbed 5 106 meters and burned 6 338 kilocalories during the course of 6:29:45,^[10] producing an average power of 240 watts with an average heartbeat of 148 beats per minute.^[11] He rode his first race in the rainbow jersey at Il Lombardia and finished 77th.^[12]

2015

Kwiatkowski wearing the Rainbow Jersey at the 2015 Tour de France

Being reigning world champion, Kwiatkowski tended to start the 2015 year with a less aggressive approach than 2014 for the bigger race later on.^[13] He used 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 palmares.^[14]

He abandoned the 2015 Tour de France during Stage 17.^[15]

On 27 September 2015, Team Sky announced the signing of Kwiatkowski for the 2016 season.^[16]

Palmares

Grand Tour results timeline

Grand Tour	2012	2013	2014	2015
Giro d'Italia	136	—	—	—
Points classification	74	—	—	—
Youth classification	37	—	—	—
Tour de France	—	11	28	WD
Points classification	—	8	32	—
Mountains classification	—	—	26	—
Youth classification	—	3	3	—
Vuelta a España	—	—	—
Points classification	—	—	—
Youth classification	—	—	—

WD = Withdrew; In Progress = IP

Classics results timeline

DNF = Did not finish; – = Did not compete

National championships timeline

Year	Road race	Time trial
2011	–	21st
2012	16th	2nd
2013		2nd
2014	21st
2015	57th	–

Personal awards

• International Flandrien of the Year: 2014^[17]
• Gold Cross of Merit (Krzyż Zasługi): 2014^[18]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michał Kwiatkowski (cyclist).

• Michał Kwiatkowski at Sports Reference
• Michał Kwiatkowski profile at Cycling Archives
• Michał Kwiatkowski profile at Cycling Quotient
• Michał Kwiatkowski profile at ProCyclingStats

{{UCI Road World Champions – Men's road race}}

UCI Road World Champions – Men's team time trial Trade teams 2012: Omega Pharma–Quick-Step (Boonen, Chavanel, Martin, Terpstra, Vandewalle, Velits) 2013: Omega Pharma–Quick-Step (Chavanel, Kwiatkowski, Martin, Terpstra, Vandewalle, Velits) 2014: BMC Racing Team (Dennis, Dillier, Oss, Quinziato, van Garderen, Velits) 2015: BMC Racing Team (Dennis, Dillier, Küng, Oss, Phinney, Quinziato)