Tour of Poland: Majka secures overall victory

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Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) become the first Polish winner of the Tour of Poland since it became part of the WorldTour after a fight for his life in the final time trial stage in Krakow.

Majka left everything out on the road during the out and back 25km time trial, knowing that his 18-second lead on Benat Intxausti and 22-second lead on Jon Izaguirre (Movistar) might not be enough to win the yellow jersey.

Belgian time trial champion Kristof Vandewalle (Trek Factory Racing) won the stage but Majka managed to limit his losses and win overall by eight seconds ahead of Izaguirre. Intxausti slipped to third overall at 22 seconds.

Italy's Adriano Malori (Movistar) was second in the time trial, with a time of 29:21, just three seconds slower than Vandewalle, with Steve Cummings (BMC) third at ten seconds.

Majka He stayed tucked in his aero position and pushed a huge gear throughout his ride, pushing right to the finish line. He did not initially know if he had won but then punched the air after his victory was confirmed. The young Polish rider has ridden the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France but his heavy race programme seems to have given him some excellent form.

He set up victory by winning back to back stages in Strbske Pleso and then Bukovina. Without the time bonuses and the ten seconds he gained on his Spanish rivals on Friday, Majka would not have been crowned the winner of the Tour of Poland.

He signed a new contract with the Tinkoff-Saxo team before the Tour of Poland and was praised by directeur sportif Tristan Hoffman.

“It has been a magnificent ride. Not just today but the whole week has been awesome in terms of teamwork and dedication. Everyone’s been working any targeting the same goal providing Rafal with the support he needed to succeed overall. And today, he paid back. He was incredibly focused and I think he rode the TT of his life. The spectators here made it feel like Tour de France and I’m sure they’re partly responsible for Rafal’s powerful ride today. He truly deserves this win," said Hoffman. 

Vandewalle's big day out

Vandewalle had been thinking about and targeting the time stage for the whole week and produced a rider worthy of his status as the current Belgian time trial champion. He was pushed close by Malori and Cummings, and almost blew victory on the final corner, but came through to take the stage honours.

“This was a big win. The Nationals win for me was also nice, but it was a very hard week and this being a WorldTour race – yes, it’s a big win," he said.

"This morning we had a four and half hour transfer to the start, so we arrived fairly late. I rode the parcours with Bob [Jungels], and only had a half hour rest before I started my warm up."

"I almost lost everything in the last corner when I almost crashed. It probably cost me two seconds, but in the end everything went right; I have to be thankful that I did not crash. After that I had the stress of waiting until everyone came in.”

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