"Would have been nice to be with G" - Kwiatkowski laments plans-changing injury from missing party in Cardiff

Michal Kwiatkowski will be quite possibly the longest-serving rider of Ineos Grenadiers next year with the retirements of funding members Geraint Thomas and Salvatore Puccio (we can't count Ben Swift because of his two-year adventure at UAE Team Emirates). The Pole joined then Team Sky as a reigning world champion and has become inseparable part of the British formation, either winning races himself, or alongside his colleagues, just like at the 2018 Tour de France won by Geraint Thomas.

"I'm kind of jealous, not that Geraint's retiring but of everything in his career," Kwiatkowski told Cyclingnews jokingly about his teammate of 10 seasons.

The Welshman bids farewell to cycling peloton on his home roads and a final party awaits in the Welsh capital - Cardiff. "He's finishing his career on his terms, and I think a lot of riders would be jealous of what he's achieved and the way he's finishing. He should be proud of himself."

The former world champion from Poland has only words of praise for his road captain with whom he has spent many kilometers in the saddle. You guessed it, he was there also for Thomas' greatest victory at the 2018 Tour de France. "Being his teammate was hugely motivating for me and many others. I was always looking at how he was performing, how he was trying to achieve his bigger goals."

Kwiatkowski's season was plagued by a knee injury sustained at the Strade Bianche in March. The 35-year-old tried to get the legs going at the following Tirreno-Adriatico, but ultimately abandoned and only returned to racing 5 months later for Clasica San Sebastian and the home Tour de Pologne. There, he was struck by an illness and the team made a call to stop in order to be ready for Vuelta.

If not for this turn of events, Kwiatkowski says he "would have done the Tour and then probably the Tour of Britain" and be a part of Thomas' final parade in UK.

Aware of his importance for the team, Ineos had to adjust Kwiatkowski's schedule which meant Tour of Britain was no longer an option. Thus the Pole finds himself in a supporting role for the younger of his team's leaders Egan Bernal instead. "I'm here in the Vuelta and have nothing to complain about that. But it would have been nice to be in Cardiff for the last stage on Sunday with Geraint..."

Whether there'll be an opportunity to win a stage for himself, Kwiatkowski doesn't dare to predict. "There's been a great feeling in the team all round in the Vuelta, my day may come or it may not, but either way there'll be no regrets," he says, "because I've been giving it 100% every day."

For the time being, the main focus is one getting back into the race rhythm and then be back at the top of the game for the 2026 season. "I'll try to get as many race days as possible….if there are any stage races, I'll probably do it: there's Croatia, Guangxi, there is an Italian block of racing, too, which is massive before Lombardia. But first things first, I'll go through the Vuelta and then try to look for as many options as I can."

The 2014 world champion from Ponferrada makes it clear that travelling to Rwanda is not a part of his plans for the last third of this season. "I'd achieve many more things if I do other things than the Worlds," Kwiatkowski said. "Participation [purely to take part] is not my thing. If I am part of the race, I want to be there at 100%."

The third week of Vuelta will be a nice opportunity to reminiscent about the victory that shaped Kwiatkowski's career. The seventeenth stage will pass through the venue of 2014 rainbow race. But with a finish on Alto de El Morredero, it may not be the best chance for the 35-year-old.

"It'll be nice to go through there before we go onto the final climb of the day," Kwiatkowski recalled with a smile, "though hopefully it won't be raining this time round!"