Kwiatkowski eyes Amstel Gold win

Michał Kwiatkowski: - Sławek/Wikimedia Commons

The Polish national road race champion has had a dream start to the 2014 season,with overall victory at Volta ao Algarve, second overall at the recent Tour of the Basque Country, as well as victory in the Strade Bianche and Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana one-day races.

Kwiatkowski, who many are talking about as one of the future stars of stage racing, meaning the Tour de France among other three-week Grand Tours, will be hoping to continue his hot form in the Netherlands' top one-day race, Amstel Gold, which tests the riders over a 251 km, hilly and traffic furniture-littered course, starting in Masstricht this weekend.

In fact, one of the sensations of the road cycling season so far has his eyes firmly on all three so-called 'Ardennnes classics' - Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne the following Wednesday and then the most important of them all, Liege-Bastion-Liege on Sunday week.

"Kwiatkowski was fourth last year and is in a good moment of his season," said the 23-year-old's team sports director Wilfried Peeters of his chances in Amstel Gold.

Kwaitkowski is now challenging Slovakia's Peter Sagan as the rising star in what is a growing pack of strong riders from central Europe. But could he win the Tour de France one day?

“I don’t know how far I can go, but I want to be the best, and I will work hard to get there,” he told Velonews. (pg)