'Seeing Wout pull it off in Roubaix gave me faith', Niewiadoma-Phinney takes third spring runner-up finish at Amstel Gold Race

'Seeing Wout pull it off in Roubaix gave me faith', Niewiadoma-Phinney takes third spring runner-up finish at Amstel Gold Race

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney finished second again at Amstel Gold Race, 27 seconds behind solo winner Paula Blasi. The Polish rider pointed to Wout van Aert's Paris-Roubaix comeback as proof that patience can still convert near-misses into victories.

By Tim Bonville-Ginn · · 3 min read

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) finished second at the Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition on April 19 in Valkenburg, 27 seconds behind solo winner Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ), her third runner-up result in a major spring Classic this season.

This was quite the result for the Polish rider who beat her arch rival Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) in a two-up sprint to the line in Valkenburg. Granted, not for the win. However, Vollering was going flat out all the way to the line, so it is a big achievement for the rider who is normally bettered by the European champion in a sprint.

Blasi, a 23-year-old Spaniard racing Amstel Gold Race for the first time as a late replacement in the UAE Team ADQ lineup, attacked with roughly 20–25 kilometres remaining, bridged to an earlier move, then rode clear on the Cauberg and held off the chase all the way to the line. Niewiadoma-Phinney finished best of the chasers, just ahead of Vollering in third.

Results

Apr 19 • 158.1km

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Paula Blasi Cairol
UAE TEAM ADQ4:02:15
🥈
Katarzyna Anna Niewiadoma-Phinney
CANYON//SRAM ZONDACRYPTO+27
🥉
Demi Vollering
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+27
4
Letizia Paternoster
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+43
5
Noemi Rüegg
EF EDUCATION - OATLY+43
6
Karlijn Swinkels
UAE TEAM ADQ+43
7
Sarah van Dam
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+43
8
Riejanne Markus
LIDL - TREK+43
9
Anna van der Breggen
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+43
10
Puck Pieterse
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+43
11
Ashleigh Moolman Pasio
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+43
12
Fleur Moors
LIDL - TREK+43
13
Margarita Victoria Garcia Cañellas
UAE TEAM ADQ+43
14
Mischa Bredewold
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+1:01
15
Thalita de Jong
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+1:01
16
Silvia Persico
UAE TEAM ADQ+1:01
17
Shirin van Anrooij
LIDL - TREK+1:01
18
Eline Jansen
VOLKERWESSELS CYCLING TEAM+1:01
19
Nienke Vinke
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+1:01
20
Elise Chabbey
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+1:31
21
Niamh Mary Fisher-Black
LIDL - TREK+1:31
22
Kata Blanka Vas
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+1:31
23
Juliette Berthet
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+1:31
24
Marianne Vos
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+1:31
25
Femke de Vries
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+2:26
26
Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset
UNO-X MOBILITY+3:23
27
Loes Adegeest
LIDL - TREK+3:23
28
Liane Lippert
MOVISTAR TEAM+3:23
29
Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini
UAE TEAM ADQ+3:23
30
Franziska Koch
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+5:55
31
Pfeiffer Zara Georgi
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+5:55
32
Linda Riedmann
LOTTO INTERMARCHE LADIES+5:55
33
Cedrine Kerbaol
EF EDUCATION - OATLY+5:55
34
Quinty Ton
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+5:55
35
Steffi Häberlin
TEAM SD WORX - PROTIME+5:55
36
Titia Ryo
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+5:55
37
Ella Wyllie
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+5:55
38
Lieke Nooijen
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+5:55
39
Alice Madeleine Towers
EF EDUCATION - OATLY+5:55
40
Monica Trinca Colonel
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+5:55
41
Lotte Claes
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+5:55
42
Viktória Chladoňová
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+5:55
43
Karolina Perekitko
MAYENNE MONBANA MY PIE+5:55
44
Rosita Reijnhout
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+5:55
45
Cecilie Ludwig
CANYON//SRAM ZONDACRYPTO+5:55
46
Yara Kastelijn
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+5:55
47
Antonia Niedermaier
CANYON//SRAM ZONDACRYPTO+5:59
48
Mona Mitterwallner
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+5:59
49
Silke Smulders
LIV-ALULA-JAYCO+5:59
50
Eva van Agt
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+5:59
51
Noemie Thomson
DAS-HUTCHINSON+7:16
52
Cleo Kiekens
CITYMESH - CUSTOMM PRO CYCLING TEAM+9:36
53
Anouska Koster
UNO-X MOBILITY+10:03
54
Mireia Benito Pellicer
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+10:03
55
Esmée Peperkamp
VOLKERWESSELS CYCLING TEAM+10:03
56
Amber Kraak
FDJ UNITED - SUEZ+10:03
57
Ana Vitoria Gouvea Vieira Almeida Magalhaes
MOVISTAR TEAM+10:03
58
Nina Buijsman
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+10:03
59
Francesca Barale
MOVISTAR TEAM+10:03
60
Lucinda Brand
LIDL - TREK+10:03
61
Neve Summer Bradbury
CANYON//SRAM ZONDACRYPTO+10:03
62
Heidi Franz
ST MICHEL - PREFERENCE HOME - AUBER93+11:12
63
Nicole Steigenga
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+11:12
64
Solène Muller
ST MICHEL - PREFERENCE HOME - AUBER93+11:12
65
Marine Allione
MAYENNE MONBANA MY PIE+11:12
66
Annelies Frieda Bart Nijssen
LOTTO INTERMARCHE LADIES+12:16
67
Maya Kingma
AROMITALIA VAIANO+12:16
68
Floortje Mackaij
MOVISTAR TEAM+12:16
69
Carina Schrempf
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+12:16
70
Magdeleine Vallieres Mill
EF EDUCATION - OATLY+12:16
71
Marit Raaijmakers
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+12:16
72
India Grangier
ST MICHEL - PREFERENCE HOME - AUBER93+15:53
73
Anna van Wersch
LOTTO INTERMARCHE LADIES+16:01
74
Morven Yeoman
DAS-HUTCHINSON+16:01
75
Gaia Masetti
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+16:05
76
Katie Scott
DAS-HUTCHINSON+16:29
77
Manon de Boer
CITYMESH - CUSTOMM PRO CYCLING TEAM+16:29
78
Ilse Pluimers
AG INSURANCE - SOUDAL TEAM+16:29
79
Alice Coutinho
MAYENNE MONBANA MY PIE+16:29
80
Mia Gjertsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+16:29
81
Sara Martin Martin
MOVISTAR TEAM+16:29
82
Olivia Baril
MOVISTAR TEAM+16:29
83
Carlotta Cipressi
HUMAN POWERED HEALTH+16:29
84
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado
FENIX-PREMIER TECH+16:29
85
Alison Jackson
ST MICHEL - PREFERENCE HOME - AUBER93+16:29
86
Justyna Czapla
CANYON//SRAM ZONDACRYPTO+16:29
87
Soraya Paladin
CANYON//SRAM ZONDACRYPTO+16:29
88
Anneke Dijkstra
VOLKERWESSELS CYCLING TEAM+16:29

Blasi went clear moments after being dropped by the peloton. Fortunately for her, no-one wanted to follow or, for that matter, chase. The reduced peloton behind did not coordinate a response quickly enough, and by the time Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering launched their effort on the final ascent of the Cauberg, Blasi's lead was already too large to close. The late move secured the podium places but never threatened the leader.

Afterward, Niewiadoma-Phinney framed the result through the lens of Wout van Aert's (Visma-Lease a Bike) Paris-Roubaix victory a week earlier. Van Aert had told TNT Sports that he had "stopped believing a lot of times" before finally winning a race that had eluded him through years of punctures, crashes, and failed attempts. Van Aert's breakthrough after repeated near-misses gave her belief that patience still has value, even when second places are accumulating.

Niewiadoma-Phinney told TV interviewers: "Honestly I think just seeing Wout [van Aert] pulling it off in Roubaix gave me so much faith for what's next, so I'm doing what I have to do, staying patient, and I believe it's going to come."

Third second place of the spring

The Amstel result extends a pattern that has defined Niewiadoma-Phinney's 2026 Classics campaign. At Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, she crested the Muur van Geraardsbergen with the fastest time of the day and escaped with Vollering in the finale, only to lose the sprint. At Strade Bianche, she said she was strong enough to win but finished second again after a final-kilometre tactical sequence went against her.

The common thread across all three races is that Niewiadoma-Phinney is consistently making the decisive selection. She is not fading in the final kilometres or missing key moves. At Omloop, she lacked the sprint speed to beat Vollering. At Strade, a positioning error cost her. At Amstel, she responded too late to an attack that the entire peloton underestimated. Each loss has a different tactical explanation, but the underlying form is constant.

Cover image credit: Thomas Maheux

Velora newsletter

Never miss a story

The biggest cycling stories, tech insight and race analysis — twice a week, free.

Tim Bonville-Ginn headshot

Tim Bonville-Ginn

Pro cycling contributor

Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked in cycling for well over a decade with his articles being featured across publications such as Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Cyclist, Rouleur, Eurosport, Road cc, Domestique, and more.

As well as writing, Tim has worked as a social media and press manager for professional teams Human Powered Health, Global 6, and Saint Piran across Europe as well as commentating on races such as the African Continental Championships, Tour de Feminin and multiple rounds of the British road and circuit series for Golazo and Monument Cycling.

Expertise:Racing