Niewiadoma's grinding climb had nothing to do with willpower — her gears were stuck

Wednesday's Flèche Wallonne came down to a duel between Dutch riders at the top, with Demi Vollering edging Puck Pieterse in the final metres on the Mur de Huy. Behind them, Kasia Niewiadoma had to settle for fourth — and it turned out there was a very good reason for it.

Vollering launched her first acceleration with 700 metres to go, and Niewiadoma was sitting on her wheel. It looked for a moment like the pattern we know well: the Pole shadowing her great rival, ready to strike. But 500 metres from the line, a gap opened — and it looked strange. Where Vollering was spinning up the Mur with a smooth cadence, Niewiadoma was grinding it out like a miner pushing through rock.

It was not a choice. "I am certainly not happy about this," she said in the flash interview afterwards, her disappointment clear. "I was really frustrated on the final climb, because I got stuck in the big chainring. I just had to keep grinding and couldn't shift down to the small ring, for some reason. It wasn't ideal — but c'est la vie."

She also missed the podium. Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) slipped through to take third.

Niewiadoma won this race in 2024, and the frustration of not getting the chance to defend that title was plain to see. Whether she could have beaten a Vollering in this form — even with fully functioning gears — is impossible to say.

"I don't know," she admitted. "It just wasn't ideal, going up the climb at such a low cadence. But Demi was also incredibly strong — chapeau."

There were some positives to take. After a difficult Amstel Gold Race, her team stepped up significantly. "I'm very happy with how the team rode today. It was a big step forward compared to the Amstel Gold Race. It was great to see the strength they showed. And I felt good. But we didn't come here for fourth place."

On Sunday, Niewiadoma will line up — hopefully with working gears — at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Her record at La Doyenne spans more than a decade of consistent results: ninth, fifth, eleventh, ninth, fourth, nineteenth, sixth, fourteenth, third. A win has so far eluded her, but the form is there.

"Definitely. I feel good — hopefully I can show it on Sunday."