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4. Oktober 2014
On Il Lombardia After Winning Worlds
“Last week was completely new in my life,”
Kwiatkowski said. “After winning the World Championship it was a bit
difficult to focus in anticipation of Il Lombardia. But honestly, I’m
the kind of person who never really wants to celebrate a victory and
looks to the next races. I want to show respect to the rainbow jersey.
It’s certainly a strange feeling in my head to be World Champion. I
couldn’t believe it for a while. But I’m here to race with Omega Pharma
– Quick-Step and I am excited to race this monument with my teammates.”
On His
World Championship Victory
“I saw the victory on video, it was great, especially with Polish
commentary,” Kwiatkowski said. “It was incredible to watch it. I didn’t
cry, but I had a lot of emotions seeing that. I hope people enjoyed it,
especially the Polish public who has supported me so much. On Monday
after the race I went back home and I had a wonderful welcome at the
Warsaw airport. I met a lot of fans. I said at that moment that I’m
still focusing on the last race of my season, Il Lombardia, and I
stayed home with my family and my girlfriend. I wanted to stay relaxed,
which was not easy given the shock of being World Champion. But I could
train in my hometown, and I arrived here on Friday happy with my calm
week.”
On Seeing the Rainbow
Jersey for the First Time
“Last night I saw the jersey and because of that I didn’t even sleep
well, “ Kwiatkowski said. “I jumped on my bed once in the jersey, that
was quite fun. I had the bikes next to me and everything. But I slept
in my own pajamas after that. To be honest, I was thinking what I would
look like today when I wear it at training. It’s an incredible feeling
to have the rainbow jersey. I didn’t think about how it will be so
visible and so nice. Especially with my Specialized bike, you can see
it all on our team website. It is all put together seamlessly and I
think it really honors the distinction as World Champion. I am proud of
how it all came together.”
On Being Successful at a
Young Age
“I think the last few years with OPQS I always improved,” Kwiatkowski
said. “I made big steps forward, especially in the big races like the
Ardennes Classics. I hope it will continue this way. Together with the
team I am thinking about the next year, but at my age I think it is
still important to focus on learning. I don’t have the same experience
as other riders. It’s a learning process, even with the progress I
showed in the Classics and winning the UCI World Road Championship.”
On His Il Lombardia
Competitors
“Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez will for sure
be big competitors at Il Lombardia,” Kwiatkowski said. “But it’s never
a guarantee who can be a factor here. It’s always special to be a part
of this race as it is never predictable. As for me, we will see what I
can do. I didn’t plan the attack in the World Championship. I was just
in the front and saw the opportunity to be there. In the end it was a
good move, and tomorrow it’s going to be about who also can make a good
move at the right time. You have to be flexible because anything can
happen. I don’t have experience from this race as I was unable to
finish twice so far. But with support of my teammates I hope to do
better this year, and who knows, if there is an opportunity for me I
will do my best as I did last week.”
On Team Support
"It's a wonderful feeling to have your team and your sponsors working
hard to celebrate big moments like this," Kwiatkowski said. "I have to
be honest. The high quality outfit provided by Vermarc is something I
am so proud to wear. Specialized also deserves big thanks for what they
did in a very short time with my bike. At first glance it's not
easy to understand that it's the bike of the World Champion. But when
you connect Flower Power, Polish guy, and World Champion stripes, you
can close your eyes and easily imagine this incredible bike. The
Specialized Tarmac has been designed especially for me by Specialized
Road Bike Graphic Designer Ron. It's unbelievable how everything looks
just great together. The helmet goes perfectly with the rainbow jersey
and this great bike as well. I am really happy for all of this, and
everything combined gives me extra motivation. I really want to thank
all the guys from Specialized for the extraordinary support they give
me all the time, and Vermarc, and my team as well. OPQS put a special
sticker on the team bus to congratulate and thank me, and it proves how
great the atmosphere is on this team. I am so thankful to be with OPQS."
Foto: © OPQS/Tim De Waele
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