{"id":632492,"date":"2026-04-26T18:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T18:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/632492\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T18:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T18:14:10","slug":"it-gives-me-extra-motivation-to-work-harder-kasia-niewiadoma-phinney-turns-attention-to-la-vuelta-femenina-after-podium-performance-at-liege-bastogne-liege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/632492\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It gives me extra motivation to work harder’ – Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney turns attention to La Vuelta Femenina after podium performance at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney<\/a> turns her attention to the stage racing season at La Vuelta Femenina<\/a> in May, she reflected on the conclusion of her Spring Classics campaign, where she finished on the podium<\/a> behind solo winner Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) and runner-up Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge Femmes<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

“I’m happy about it. I believe that, as a team, we rode a nicer race and stayed together, and I was happy that I could pull off a podium. Demi was incredibly strong today,” Niewiadona-Phinney said after sprinting in a small chase group against Pieterse and late-bridger Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime).<\/p>\n

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The Polish Champion was one of the pre-race favourites after finishing second at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche and Amstel Gold Race, and fourth at Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, but she could not hold onto Vollering’s searing solo attack over the C\u00f4te de la Redoute with 35km remaining in the elite women’s 156km Monument.<\/p>\n

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“Of course, you always feel a little upset that you could not follow, but at the same time, I feel like it gives me extra motivation to work harder so that I can eventually close the gap. I’m definitely pleased about the result,” she said.<\/p>\n

She initially entered into a chase group with Pieterse and Lidl-Trek teammates Isabella Holmgren and Niamh Fisher-Black.<\/p>\n

“Once you go into a red zone, and then you have to chase or go full gas, there is not much going on; you just know that you have to try your best,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said.<\/p>\n

“I tried to close the gap on the uphill section or come closer, but of course, Demi is a world-class rider, and it wasn’t easy. It was nice that we were all committed and everyone wanted to contribute to the chase.”<\/p>\n

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\"Anna\n<\/p>\n

Anna van der Breggen, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Puck Pieterse race into Li\u00e8ge over a minute behind solo winner Demi Vollering (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The two Lidl-Trek riders were eventually distanced and then replaced by Van der Breggen, who had bridged across from a chase group that had included World Champion Magdeleine Valli\u00e8res, Axelle Dubau-Pr\u00e9vot (both EF Education-Oatly), Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ), Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Lore De Schepper (AG Insurance-Soudal), and Vollering’s teammates Elise Chabbey and Juliette Berthet.<\/p>\n

“I was surprised to see Anna van der Breggen bridging back across from the back, and we lost Isabella [Holmgren] and gained Anna, in the end. I was feeling less confident with Anna in the mix because, of course, she is also a strong sprinter,” Niewiadoma-Phinney said of the final where Van der Breggen led the trio into the final stretch, only to be outsprinted by both at the line.<\/p>\n

“I think that at the end of such a hard race, you never know who will have legs. I was happy that I could get on the podium because I’ve been fourth here multiple times, and I’m happy I could avoid that again.”<\/p>\n

Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We’ll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including Amstel Gold Race, La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, and Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge. Find out more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney turns her attention to the stage racing season at La Vuelta Femenina in May, she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-632492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}