Katarzyna Niewiadoma facts for kids

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Katarzyna Niewiadoma

Niewiadoma at the 2024 Tour de France Femmes
Personal information
Full name	Katarzyna Niewiadoma Phinney
Nickname	Kasia
Born	(1994-09-29) 29 September 1994 (age 30) Limanowa, Poland
Height	169 cm
Team information
Current team	Canyon–SRAM
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Major wins
;Gravel World Championships (2023) Road Major Tours Tour de France General classification (2024) Mountains classification (2023) Stage races Emakumeen Euskal Bira (2015) Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs (2016) Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol (2016) The Women's Tour (2017) One-day races and Classics National Road Race Championships (2016, 2025) National Time Trial Championships (2016) Amstel Gold Race (2019) Trofeo Alfredo Binda (2018) La Flèche Wallonne (2024)

Katarzyna "Kasia" Niewiadoma Phinney is a professional cyclist from Poland. She was born on September 29, 1994. Kasia rides for the Canyon–SRAM team. She is known for her strong climbing skills.

Kasia has won many important races. These include the Tour de France Femmes in 2024 and La Flèche Wallonne in 2024. She also won the Amstel Gold Race in 2019 and The Women's Tour in 2017. She finished third overall in the Tour de France Femmes in both 2022 and 2023. In 2023, she earned the Queen of the Mountains jersey for being the best climber. In the same year, Kasia became the UCI Gravel World Champion.

Kasia's Early Cycling Days

Kasia Niewiadoma was born in Limanowa, Poland. She started riding bikes with a local club called WLKS Krakus BBC Czaja. Soon, she became one of the most promising young women cyclists in Poland. She rode for the TKK Pacific Toruń team.

In 2013, Kasia won two national titles for riders under 23 years old. She also finished fourth in both the time trial and road race events. Her strong performances led her to join a professional team, Rabobank–Liv Giant, in September 2013. She competed in the Holland Ladies Tour, where she finished tenth overall and won the award for the best young rider.

Kasia's Professional Cycling Career

Riding for Rabo–Liv (2014–2017)

Starting Strong in 2014

Kasia signed her first professional contract with Rabo–Liv in October 2013. She started her professional career in February 2014. Four months later, she won her first professional race, the GP du Canton d'Argovie in Switzerland.

Before the Giro d'Italia Femminile, Kasia won a bronze medal in the time trial at the Polish National Championships. She also finished eighth in the road race. Her climbing skills were very helpful for her team at the Giro d'Italia Femminile. She helped her teammate Marianne Vos win the race. Kasia finished eleventh overall and third in the young rider category. This was a great start to her professional career in a major race.

Niewiadoma at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships

Kasia then achieved her first podium finish in a stage race. She finished third in the first Ladies Tour of Norway. She also won the young rider and mountains classifications in that race. In September, she signed a new contract with her team. She finished eighth overall in the Premondiale Giro della Toscana before the World Championships. At the World Championships in Spain, she finished eleventh in the road race.

Big Wins in 2015

In 2015, Kasia became one of the best young riders in cycling. She showed her climbing talent by finishing sixth in the first Strade Bianche Donne race. She also placed fifth in the important La Flèche Wallonne Féminine race. She finished third in the Holland Hills Classic.

In June, Kasia won the Emakumeen Euskal Bira, a five-day stage race in Spain. She also won a silver medal in the women's road race at the European Games. Even though she was only 20, Kasia was a leader for her team at the Giro Rosa, one of the biggest races. She led the young rider classification after the second stage and stayed near the top in the mountain stages. She finished fifth overall and won the white jersey for the best young rider.

After these results, Kasia led the Polish team at the European Road Championships in Estonia. She won a gold medal in the women's under-23 road race. She finished the season at the World Championships in the USA. Her team won a bronze medal in the team time trial. Kasia also led the Polish team in the road race, finishing seventh.

Dominating in 2016

Niewiadoma (in blue) talking with Lizzie Armitstead before the 2016 La Flèche Wallonne Féminine.

Kasia improved her result at Strade Bianche in 2016, finishing second. She also had top-ten finishes at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the Tour of Flanders. She won her first race of the season at the Ronde van Gelderland. After finishing fourth at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, Kasia won a stage and the overall title at the Festival Luxembourgeois du cyclisme féminin Elsy Jacobs. She then won another stage and the overall title at the Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol.

At the Polish National Championships, Kasia won both the time trial and road race titles.

At the 2016 Holland Ladies Tour, Niewiadoma won the jerseys for the points (green) and young rider (light blue) classifications.

During the Giro d'Italia Femminile, Kasia was in second place overall for a while. She finished seventh overall and won the young rider classification. At the Rio Olympics, she finished sixth in the road race. She then finished fourth at the GP de Plouay – Bretagne and fifth overall at the Holland Ladies Tour. Kasia also won two stages, the points, and young rider classifications in the Holland Ladies Tour.

She won two medals at the European Road Championships in France. She won a silver medal in the women's road race and a gold medal in the under-23 road race.

Strong Finishes in 2017

Niewiadoma, wearing the Polish national road race champion's jersey, at the 2017 La Flèche Wallonne Féminine. Niewiadoma finished third in all three Ardennes classics races in 2017.

Kasia did not win any races in the spring of 2017, but she had four podium finishes in important races. She finished second in Strade Bianche for the second year in a row. In the Ardennes classics, she finished third in all three races: the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, and Liège–Bastogne–Liège Femmes.

Niewiadoma at the 2017 The Women's Tour, where she won the opening stage and the green jersey as the winner of the general classification

Kasia's next race was The Women's Tour. She won the first stage after riding alone for almost 50 kilometers. She kept her lead and won the race overall by a minute and eighteen seconds. This win also put her at the top of the UCI Women's World Tour rankings. She finished sixth overall at the Giro d'Italia Femminile. She also finished ninth in La Course by Le Tour de France, seventh overall at the Holland Ladies Tour, and fifth in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships. Kasia finished the season in third place in the overall UCI Women's World Tour standings.

Joining Canyon–SRAM (2018–Present)

In July 2017, it was announced that Kasia would join the Canyon–SRAM team for the 2018 season. She signed a three-year contract.

Success in 2018

Kasia started with Canyon–SRAM at the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana in February, finishing seventh overall. She also helped her teammate Hannah Barnes win the overall title. She finished second at Strade Bianche for the third time in a row. A few weeks later, she won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio after riding alone for 8 kilometers. This win put her in the lead of the UCI Women's World Tour rankings. She also finished third overall at the Tour of California.

Niewiadoma (far left) won the mountains classification at the Ladies Tour of Norway

During the summer, Kasia finished seventh overall at the Giro Rosa, sixth at La Course by Le Tour de France, and fifth overall at the Ladies Tour of Norway. She also won the mountains classification in Norway. Before the UCI Road World Championships, Kasia won the fifth stage of the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche. She then won the overall title by 1 minute and 28 seconds and also won the mountains classification. At the World Championships, she finished twelfth.

Winning the Amstel Gold Race in 2019

For the fourth year in a row, Kasia finished on the podium at Strade Bianche, taking third place. In March and April, she had six top-ten finishes, including her big win at the Amstel Gold Race. Kasia attacked on the last climb and held on to win her second Women's World Tour one-day race.

Niewiadoma at the 2019 The Women's Tour, where she finished second overall. During the race, she also won the penultimate stage and the mountains classification.

After finishing fifth overall at the Tour of California, Kasia led her team at The Women's Tour. She won the fourth stage and moved into second place overall. She finished second overall in the race, losing by just one second. Kasia did win the mountains classification in this race.

Her team won the opening team time trial stage at the Giro Rosa. Kasia was the first rider from her team to cross the finish line, so she wore the pink jersey as the race leader for the first time. She kept the lead until the fifth stage. She finished fifth overall in the Giro Rosa. She also finished fourth overall at the Ladies Tour of Norway. Kasia extended her contract with Canyon–SRAM until the end of the 2021 season.

2020 Season Highlights

Kasia's 2020 season started after a break in racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She won her second medal at the elite European Road Championships, taking a bronze medal in the road race in Plouay. She finished fourth at La Course by Le Tour de France.

At the Giro Rosa, Kasia was in the top three for almost the entire race. She finished second overall, behind Anna van der Breggen. She even wore the pink jersey on stage eight after the leader had to withdraw due to a crash. Before the end of the season, Kasia finished seventh in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships and tenth at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine.

2021: A World Championship Medal

Kasia finished second in a close sprint at Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2021. In April 2021, Kasia signed a new three-year contract with Canyon–SRAM, keeping her with the team until the end of the 2024 season. She had three top-ten finishes in the Ardennes classics, with her best being another second-place finish at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine.

Niewiadoma (right) after winning the bronze medal in the road race at the 2021 UCI Road World Championships; she finished one second behind Elisa Balsamo (centre) and Marianne Vos (left).

Kasia finished second again in the second-to-last stage of the Holland Ladies Tour in August. She then finished sixth overall at the Challenge by La Vuelta. Kasia won a bronze medal in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Belgium. This was her first individual World Championships medal. She finished the season with a crash at Paris–Roubaix Femmes.

2022: Tour de France Femmes Podium

Kasia's first podium finish in 2022 was at Brabantse Pijl in April, where she finished second. At The Women's Tour in June, Kasia finished second in two stages. She ended up in third place overall in the race.

In July, Kasia was one of the top favorites for the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes. She finished third overall, with five top-ten stage finishes. She was in the top three overall from the second stage. She finished her season with tenth overall at the Challenge by La Vuelta and eighth place in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships.

2023: Gravel World Champion

Kasia had not won a race since 2019, and she tried to break that streak in the spring classics of 2023. Her best results were fourth in the Amstel Gold Race and fifth in the Tour of Flanders. She returned to the podium at the Itzulia Women, finishing third overall.

In the Tour de France Femmes, she finished third overall for the second year in a row. She also won the polka-dot jersey as the winner of the Queen of the Mountains (QoM) classification.

In October 2023, Kasia won the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships. She made a solo attack in the last 25 kilometers to win the 140-kilometer race in Italy.

2024: Tour de France Femmes Champion

Katarzyna Niewiadoma in stage 8 of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes.

In the spring classics of 2024, Kasia came second in the Tour of Flanders. She then won La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, which was her first major win in the UCI Women's World Tour since 2019. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, she competed in the women's individual road race. She finished in eighth place.

On August 18, 2024, Kasia won the Tour de France Femmes by just 4 seconds. This was the closest finish in the history of the Tour. This victory was the biggest achievement of Kasia's career and her first major stage race win in seven years. She described her win as "surreal" and like a childhood dream come true.

Kasia's Personal Life

Since 2016, Kasia Niewiadoma has been in a relationship with American professional cyclist Taylor Phinney. They got married in May 2024. The couple lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Major Results

Gravel

2023

1st UCI World Championships

1st Big Sugar

Road

General Classification Results Timeline

Classics Results Timeline

Niewiadoma at the 2022 Amstel Gold Race, where she finished in fifth place – one of four top-five finishes she has recorded at the race.

Major Championships Results

Event		2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Olympic Games	Time trial	Not held			18	Not held				—	Not held		—
	Road race				6					14			8
World Championships	Road race	DNF	11	5	35	5	12	23	7	3	8	DNS	17
	Team time trial	—	—	3	8	—	—	Not held
European Championships	Time trial	DNE			—	—	—	—	—	—	—	17	—
	Road race				2	—	—	—	3	4	—	11	—
National Championships	Time trial	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	Road race	4	8	4	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

See also

In Spanish: Katarzyna Niewiadoma para niños