NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna

Type of rider
All-rounder (cyclingnews.com, 11 Feb 2020)

General
CHANGE OF ATTITUDE
She finished second in the general classification at the 2020 Giro Rosa in Italy. The race had been postponed from June and July until September due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and she felt that the lockdown had given her the chance to look at the sport differently. "I had a point in my life where I didn't know what I wanted from myself. I've talked to all sorts of people, psychologists, and heard it was maybe a puberty crisis. I asked myself many questions that I didn't know the answer to. During the lockdown, however, I had a lot of time to myself. I took a break from cycling and training, because since I've been training, my longest breaks lasted maybe three weeks, and it's not much during the year. Now it was different, I cut myself off for two months and it helped me a lot. Once the lockdown was over and I was able to ride again, it felt like I had been given a bicycle for the first time. I didn't want to go home, just train, discover new ways and feel free. It made me realise how much I love this sport. I want to develop from year to year and show more and more power. It seems to me that I have a different attitude towards cycling. It's a passion and something I love, not something I have to do because I'm good at it." (przegladsportowy.pl, 21 Sep 2020)