Kwiatkowski gives Sky Strade Bianche tonic

Published March 4, 2017 10:52AM

Rome (AFP) – Michal Kwiatkowski gave the under-fire Team Sky a welcome boost on Saturday by winning the Strade Bianche one-day race for the second time in Tuscany.

Beleaguered Sky have been on the defensive as a UK anti-doping probe has exposed some questionable practices relating to their medical record-keeping.

But Poland’s Kwiatkowski gave Sky something to cheer as he escaped on his own 15km from the end of the 175km race that starts and finishes in Siena.

He held on to win by 15 seconds ahead of a group of three chasers, with Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) taking second and his fellow Belgian Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) in third.

“We started to play a game after the Sante Marie section,” he explained. “I didn’t feel so good there, but the cooperation wasn’t so strong among the group, so I thought the best thing was to go at my own pace.

“I didn’t think they’d cooperate well behind me and I could choose my own pace, my own tempo, and go to the finish. I’m so happy that it worked out.”

The last time Kwiatkowski won the prestigious Strade Bianche, in 2014, he went on to win the world title later in the year.

2017 has started strongly for Kwiatkowski with a fine ride to second overall at the Volta ao Algarve and now a win at Strade Bianche, but 2016 was tough for the 26-year-old and he was quick to thank the team for the trust placed in him after his epic ride.

“I was thinking about last year when I crossed the line, and I feel so satisfied,” he said. “The team has put big trust in to me and all the hard work I’ve done in preparation for this season has paid off.

“It’s the second victory at Strade Bianche in my career – it’s just amazing. Coming into the final stages alone was an incredible feeling.”

Pre-race favourite and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne winner Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) was forced to abandon the race due to illness.

This year was the first time Strade Bianche is listed on the WorldTour calendar.

Results

1. Michal KWIATKOWSKI, TEAM SKY, in 4:42:42

2. Greg VAN AVERMAET, BMC RACING, at :15

3. Tim WELLENS, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :17

4. Zdenek ŠTYBAR, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at :23

5. Tom DUMOULIN, TEAM SUNWEB, at 1:26

6. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA-SCOTT, at 1:26

7. Christopher JUUL JENSEN, ORICA-SCOTT, at 1:29

8. Tiesj BENOOT, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 2:20

9. Thibaut PINOT, FDJ, at 2:23

10. Scott THWAITES, DIMENSION DATA, at 2:52

11. José GONÇALVES, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 3:10

12. Quentin JAUREGUI, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 4:05

13. Fabio FELLINE, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 4:05

14. Luis León SANCHEZ, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 4:41

15. Stefan KÜNG, BMC RACING, at 5:31

16. Vegard Stake LAENGEN, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 5:41

17. Gianni MOSCON, TEAM SKY, at 5:55

18. Ondrej CINK, BAHRAIN-MERIDA, at 6:22

19. Edvald BOASSON HAGEN, DIMENSION DATA, at 8:15

20. Truls KORSÆTH, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 8:15

21. Matteo TRENTIN, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 8:41

22. Oscar GATTO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 10:13

23. Jan BAKELANTS, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 10:15

24. Floris DE TIER, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 10:16

25. Giovanni VISCONTI, BAHRAIN-MERIDA, at 10:20

26. Brent BOOKWALTER, BMC RACING, at 10:20

27. Petr VAKOC, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 10:20

28. Sébastien REICHENBACH, FDJ, at 10:21

29. Andrey AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA, TEAM MOVISTAR, at 10:24

30. ANDREY GRIVKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 10:29

31. Nathan HAAS, DIMENSION DATA, at 10:29

32. Fabio ARU, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 10:30

33. Salvatore PUCCIO, TEAM SKY, at 10:30

34. Julien VERMOTE, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 10:30

35. Primož ROGLIC, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 10:36

36. MICHAEL VALGREN ANDERSEN, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 10:41

37. Tao GEOGHEGAN HART, TEAM SKY, at 10:41

38. Moreno MOSER, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 10:44

39. Nils POLITT, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 10:49

40. Jasper STUYVEN, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 10:51

41. Iuri FILOSI, NIPPO-VINI FANTINI, at 10:51

42. Hugo HOULE, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 13:37

43. Damiano CARUSO, BMC RACING, at 13:37

44. Vincenzo NIBALI, BAHRAIN-MERIDA, at 13:38

45. Maxime MONFORT, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 13:38

46. Tomasz MARCZYNSKI, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 13:38

47. Marco MARCATO, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 13:38

48. Mike TEUNISSEN, TEAM SUNWEB, at 13:38

49. Georg PREIDLER, TEAM SUNWEB, at 13:38

50. Matteo MONTAGUTI, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 13:38

51. Nans PETERS, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 13:38

52. Enrico BATTAGLIN, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 13:38

53. Marcus BURGHARDT, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 13:38

54. Tiago MACHADO, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 13:45

55. Marco CANOLA, NIPPO-VINI FANTINI, at 13:46

56. Christoph PFINGSTEN, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 13:46

57. Simon CLARKE, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 13:46

58. Richard Antonio CARAPAZ MONTENEGRO, TEAM MOVISTAR, at 13:46

59. Michal GOLAS, TEAM SKY, at 13:49

60. Gregor MÜHLBERGER, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 13:49

61. Jack HAIG, ORICA-SCOTT, at 13:49

62. Matthieu LADAGNOUS, FDJ, at 13:51

63. Antwan TOLHOEK, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 13:54

64. Rigoberto URAN URAN, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 13:54

65. Mattia FRAPPORTI, ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC, at 13:56

66. Daniel OSS, BMC RACING, at 14:01

67. Jérémy ROY, FDJ, at 14:08

68. Sam BEWLEY, ORICA-SCOTT, at 14:23

69. Simone ANDREETTA, BARDIANI-CSF, at 14:38

70. Manuel QUINZIATO, BMC RACING, at 18:54

71. Jay MCCARTHY, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 18:54

72. Fausto MASNADA, ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC, at 18:55

73. Alex HOWES, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 18:55

74. Ivan GARCIA CORTINA, BAHRAIN-MERIDA, at 18:55

75. Toms SKUJINS, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 18:55

76. Chad HAGA, TEAM SUNWEB, at 18:55

77. Paul MARTENS, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 19:00

78. Simone VELASCO, BARDIANI-CSF, at 22:38

79. Kiel REIJNEN, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 22:52

80. Matej MOHORIC, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 22:52

81. David PER, BAHRAIN-MERIDA, at 22:52

82. Ivan SANTAROMITA, NIPPO-VINI FANTINI, at 22:52

83. Diego ROSA, TEAM SKY, at 22:52

84. Cesare BENEDETTI, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 22:52

85. Markel IRIZAR ARANBURU, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 22:52

86. Jorge ARCAS PEÑA, TEAM MOVISTAR, at 22:52

87. Ángel VICIOSO ARCOS, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 22:52

88. Maxim BELKOV, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 22:52

89. Raffaello BONUSI, ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC, at 22:52

DNF Gediminas BAGDONAS, AG2R LA MONDIALE

DNF Hubert DUPONT, AG2R LA MONDIALE

DNF Alexandre GENIEZ, AG2R LA MONDIALE

DNF Marco BENFATTO, ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC

DNF Davide BALLERINI, ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC

DNF Luca PACIONI, ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC

DNF IVAN RAMIRO SOSA CUERVO, ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC

DNF Dmitriy GRUZDEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM

DNF Manuele BOARO, BAHRAIN-MERIDA

DNF Domen NOVAK, BAHRAIN-MERIDA

DNF Kanstantsin SIUTSOU, BAHRAIN-MERIDA

DNF Nicola BOEM, BARDIANI-CSF

DNF Mirco MAESTRI, BARDIANI-CSF

DNF Stefano PIRAZZI, BARDIANI-CSF

DNF Alessandro TONELLI, BARDIANI-CSF

DNF Luca WACKERMANN, BARDIANI-CSF

DNF Edoardo ZARDINI, BARDIANI-CSF

DNF Jean-Pierre DRUCKER, BMC RACING

DNF Ben HERMANS, BMC RACING

DNF Peter SAGAN, BORA-HANSGROHE

DNF Maciej BODNAR, BORA-HANSGROHE

DNF Pawel POLJANSKI, BORA-HANSGROHE

DNF Alberto BETTIOL, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC

DNF Dylan VAN BAARLE, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC

DNF Sebastian LANGEVELD, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC

DNF Sep VANMARCKE, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC

DNF William BONNET, FDJ

DNF Tobias LUDVIGSSON, FDJ

DNF Steve MORABITO, FDJ

DNF Anthony ROUX, FDJ

DNF Sean DE BIE, LOTTO SOUDAL

DNF Bart DE CLERCQ, LOTTO SOUDAL

DNF Nikolas MAES, LOTTO SOUDAL

DNF Jurgen ROELANDTS, LOTTO SOUDAL

DNF Carlos BARBERO CUESTA, TEAM MOVISTAR

DNF Jose ROJAS, TEAM MOVISTAR

DNF Carlos Alberto BETANCUR GOMEZ, TEAM MOVISTAR

DNF Nuno MATOS, TEAM MOVISTAR

DNF Antonio PEDRERO LOPEZ, TEAM MOVISTAR

DNF Nicola BAGIOLI, NIPPO-VINI FANTINI

DNF Eduard Michael GROSU, NIPPO-VINI FANTINI

DNF Yuma KOISHI, NIPPO-VINI FANTINI

DNF Alan MARANGONI, NIPPO-VINI FANTINI

DNF Kohei UCHIMA, NIPPO-VINI FANTINI

DNF Roman KREUZIGER, ORICA-SCOTT

DNF Alexander EDMONSON, ORICA-SCOTT

DNF Jens KEUKELEIRE, ORICA-SCOTT

DNF Svein TUFT, ORICA-SCOTT

DNF Gianluca BRAMBILLA, QUICK-STEP FLOORS

DNF Bob JUNGELS, QUICK-STEP FLOORS

DNF Davide MARTINELLI, QUICK-STEP FLOORS

DNF Maximiliano Ariel RICHEZE, QUICK-STEP FLOORS

DNF Bernhard EISEL, DIMENSION DATA

DNF Mark RENSHAW, DIMENSION DATA

DNF Daniel TEKLEHAIMANOT, DIMENSION DATA

DNF Jay Robert THOMSON, DIMENSION DATA

DNF Johann VAN ZYL, DIMENSION DATA

DNF Marco MATHIS, KATUSHA-ALPECIN

DNF JHONATAN RESTREPO VALENCIA, KATUSHA-ALPECIN

DNF Mads Würtz SCHMIDT, KATUSHA-ALPECIN

DNF Bert-Jan LINDEMAN, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO

DNF Juan Jose LOBATO DEL VALLE, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO

DNF Alexey VERMEULEN, TEAM LOTTONL-JUMBO

DNF Ian BOSWELL, TEAM SKY

DNF Owain DOULL, TEAM SKY

DNF Wilco KELDERMAN, TEAM SUNWEB

DNF Ramon SINKELDAM, TEAM SUNWEB

DNF Laurens TEN DAM, TEAM SUNWEB

DNF Albert TIMMER, TEAM SUNWEB

DNF Eugenio ALAFACI, TREK-SEGAFREDO

DNF Marco COLEDAN, TREK-SEGAFREDO

DNF Mads PEDERSEN, TREK-SEGAFREDO

DNF Boy VAN POPPEL, TREK-SEGAFREDO

DNF Przemyslaw NIEMIEC, UAE TEAM EMIRATES

DNF Kristijan ÐURASEK, UAE TEAM EMIRATES

DNF Sacha MODOLO, UAE TEAM EMIRATES

DNF Edward RAVASI, UAE TEAM EMIRATES

DNF Oliviero TROIA, UAE TEAM EMIRATES