Michal Kwiatkowski stormed into the yellow jersey on stage four of the Tour of Britain with a stunning late acceleration to foil breakaway rider Albert Timmer (Giant-Shimano) just metres from the line.
The attack clearly caught Timmer by surprise, as he looked over his shoulder to find the Pole haring towards him, but just how good was the Omega Pharma-Quickstep man?
Kwiatkowski uploaded his ride to Strava post-stage, allowing us the opportunity to see exactly where the race was won – and no doubt meaning a few of the dreaded ‘uh oh’ messages for Bristol’s cycling public.
He took a total of 59 Strava KOM titles during his 190.9km ride, which has earned him a three-second advantage overall ahead of Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani CSF).
At an average speed of 41.4km/h – which peaked at 87.1km/h – Strava estimate the Pole’s average cadence to have been 79rpm, and weighted average power at 241 watts.
But, vital statistics aside, it is the final run-in where Kwiatkowski’s stats make the most interesting reading.
Unsurprisingly he grabbed the Strava KOM title for the final segment on Bridge Valley Road – the ‘Up the Downs – BVR’ segment, which takes in the final climb and the run-in to the finish, seeing him set an average speed of 34.9km/h.
He is the only rider to have gone under five minutes on the near three-kilometre stretch, with his fellow members of the Tour of Britain peloton Alex Dowsett (5.01) and Tom Stewart (5.28) some way slower.
Strava’s new Effort Comparison Tool allows us to see exactly where Kwiatkowski struck, too.
If compared to Alex Dowsett’s effort, the two ascended the final climb is exactly the same time, but as soon as they crested it Kwiatkowski kicked and kicked hard.
His acceleration sees him go from 28km/h to 58km/h – putting six seconds into the bunch in no time at all.
And the impact of his stunning turn of speed and sprint can be seen clearly on Strava, as he is some way short of the line when he takes his foot of the gas and raises his arms in victory – as reflected by his slowing down.
The end result, of course, was a stage win and a three-second overall advantage – and most tellingly a comfortable buffer between himself and the time trial favourites like Sir Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and Jon Izaguirre (Movistar).
