Thursday 12 February 2015 - 18:30

Lukasz Wisniowski BLOG: Young & Eager!

Lukasz Wisniowski BLOG: Young & Eager!

Neo-pro Lukasz Wisniowski is in his first year with the team, after riding for the Etixx and Etixx-iHNed continental teams in the previous years. In the blog below he talks about his first races, and gives a little bit of an introduction to fans who might not know him well yet.

First of all I have to say I feel really comfortable on this team. I know I'm a new rider, but I already settled in with the riding and the atmosphere. Etixx – Quick-Step is like family, so I feel really good. This atmosphere also shows in the racing so far at Dubai Tour and Tour de San Luis. There's always good cooperation with each other all day at the races. I have to say after the first races, I am a bit tired. These were my first races as a professional rider and my job is to pull at the front. To do that for the first time at this level of racing, it is a lot out of the legs. There were also long climbing stages, hard stages, which don't suit my skills. But there is something also that many young guys don't realize until they become a pro. With the younger, lower levels of racing, the tempo is usually always the same. At the professional levels so far I've noticed at the beginning it is very fast, then it eases up, but the end of the stage it is really full gas. That is an adjustment for me at the moment. It's a big difference. But I am so proud to be here and this is simply part of growing up as a rider.

I am also proud to be on Etixx – Quick-Step as one of three Polish riders, along with UCI World Road Champion Michal Kwiatkowski and Michal Golas. Half of the team that I've raced with so far has been Polish! But regardless of nationality, it is an honor to ride with guys like Mark Cavendish, and other veterans. I can learn a lot from all the guys that are on this team. After all, they won more than 60 races last year with almost 20 different riders. Step-by-step I have to learn everything, and start with the basics. But with a team like this I am learning the basics from the best. It helps that they are nice to me, and always informing me and guiding me. The staff is the same. The whole team gives me feedback, whether I do something right or wrong. I have to learn either way. I am always being taught something before, during, and after races. It's really perfect and I feel like I probably learn more in a week than some riders might learn in a season.

In my first week of racing in Argentina my roommate was Guillaume Van Keirsbulck. Thankfully we listen to the same time of music, because he listens to a lot of it. We don't speak about the races too much, we kept our minds free when we are not on our bikes. Maybe I am not so much a video game fanatic like he is, and sometimes I am too tired to play a game, but I also like to play, so we get along in that way as well.

The people who come to watch the races are really interesting too. In the races I've done in the past there were only a few people there. But for example in Argentina there was a crowd. It's new for me, it's a lot of people screaming. It's a bit of an extra motivation.

But the professional world may not be familiar with me yet as I am new in the peloton. For those of you who don't me or my riding style yet: I'm not a climber, but I like really hard terrain with a lot of ups and downs. I like the climbs no longer than a kilometer. I like the crosswinds too. Even though I'm Polish I really like the Classics kind of parcours, or the French races. Those are also really windy and hilly too. Races in Holland are also suited for me. Even though they're flat, I love racing in the wind. I guess you could say I am a rider for the windy races, which fits perfectly in Etixx – Quick-Step. I know we are considered masters of the crosswind. I hope to contribute to that legend with my strengths.

Well, that is all from me! I hope the cycling world can get to know me more this season as I continue to develop as a young guy in the peloton.




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