After reducing the number of race days he has had in the early part of this season in order to be fresher going into the Tour de France, World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski says he is not just going to feel the benefit at the Tour bit he also feels better now, backed up by fourth place at Dwars door Vlaanderen.

“I feel great for this part of the season…That change we made with the team, the decision to skip Tirreno for Paris-Nice that was really good because I could rest in Spain in the period between Paris-Nice and Milan-San Remo. I’m really motivated,” Kwiatkowski said ahead of last weekend’s Milan-San Remo, which he finished for the first time despite a crash on the Poggio.

“In the past years I just couldn’t recover and mentally it was too much for me. I raced so hard in Strade Bianche and in Tirreno, with the longer period and less stressful racing in Paris-Nice I just feel great this week and more motivated about my condition.”

He is going well in training and has now taken a well-earned rest after his performance today. He will return at the Vuelta a Pais Vasco ahead of the Ardennes Classics, a big goal for him once more in 2015.

“I am feeling good now in training. I am building up my form and building up my shape. I really started easy with Argentina and Algarve. I really feel progress compared to last year,” said Kwiatkowski. “I’m slowly building my shape for the Ardennes which is my biggest goal. For sure I will have time to rest after the Ardennes so that makes me confident and relaxed before the big races. I always race 400 per cent I never try to go easy, and I need this time to recover between the races.”