As the Tour of Britain is progressing, it is becoming blatantly obvious that OPQS rider Michal Kwiatkowski is one of, if not the, strongest riders in the race. And more importantly, he is clearly in form and many now label him as a favourite for the World Road Race title in Ponferrada, Spain next month.

“Favourite is a big word, you know?” Kwiatkowski said of the world championships at the finish in Exeter. “Because in the history of Polish cycling; I think we’ve just had one silver medal. I don’t know which year it was. After that we were always somewhere there, but never as a favourite.”

Zbigniew Spruch was the rider, and he did so in 2000 behind Latvia’s Romans Vainsteins in Plouay, France. However the course this year in Spain could suit Kwiatkowski’s talents, with two relatively short climbs on a 18.2km circuit to be tackled 14 times over a total distance of 254.8km.

Kwiatkowski has a fast finish as he showed by winning the stage to Bristol, and he has big wins in Strade Bianche to show his class. He can also handle the big distances, with top 5s in all three Ardennes Classics this season. All of this makes him a dark horse for the Rainbow Jersey.

“It [the Worlds] is a classic, and I think I’ve made big steps forward in the classics, so why not use this to be there and fight,” he added. “I like classics. For sure I will try to do something.”

“Last year I was in good form before the world championships but during the worlds I didn’t feel so great,” he added. “Somebody put me as favourite as well, last year, but I couldn’t even finish the race.”

But this year, Poland has been so successful in the WorldTour that they have qualified the full 9 riders to take the startline in the Road Race, thanks to WorldTour wins and strong performances from the likes of Kwiatkowski, Tinkoff-Saxo’s Rafal Majka and Lampre-Merida man Przemyslaw Niemiec.

“This year we’re going to have nine riders there, which of course that’s going to be good for us,” he added.

“I’m not confident, but I have to see myself being up there and fighting for the result. Polish cycling is getting bigger and bigger, so I believe I can represent Polish cycling very well.”