Despite finishing with the GC favourites, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) expressed disappointment at the finish of stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after possibly going too early on the final climb to the line.
The Pole crashed going into the base of the last categorised climb of the day, which she says lost her some explosivity in the final, but also put the result down to an element of impatience.
"I was hoping for the victory, of course, like every time I race," she said. "So it's just frustrating to feel like I made exactly the same mistake again.
"I feel like I keep trying to reach out in a way that, in my mind, I would be able to surprise others by starting to sprint from behind with some speed instead of being in the second position and going for it. I feel like maybe impatience is kind of popping into my mind every time."
After an initial outpouring of disappointment when she returned to the team bus, Niewiadoma was able to reflect on the positives on a day that saw the likes of Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and Demi Vollering (SD Worx) lose time.
"On the other side, I'm happy that I am still involved in the GC and that after crashing I didn't lose too much time," she said.
Niewiadoma's disappointment at missing out on stage victory was perhaps compounded by the fact that physically, she feels that she is in good shape at this Tour de France.
"I feel good," she said. "I feel like these stages suit me very well so far. This is like Classics-style racing, I feel like naturally, I'm quite good at it. So hopefully, I will be able to carry it on until the end of the week."
"I changed my training programme, where I focused more on saving my power for the races and not spending it all in training. I'm feeling fresh and ready."
Though the stage win is yet to come, Niewiadoma has finished in the front group two days in a row, taken six bonus seconds, and sits third on GC, almost a minute ahead of pre-race favourite Annemiek van Vleuten, who is reportedly struggling with illness.
On an eight-day stage race, the 27-year-old is hoping her consistency will prove to be rewarding come Sunday.
"I believe what Taylor [Phinney - ed], my partner, always says, that I may not be winning much, but with my consistency, I can get a good result. So hopefully with all those stages where I get a top five, say, I can at the end get a good podium spot."
