After 15 years in the WorldTour, Rafał Majka is retiring from cycling as a noble assistant to Tadej Pogačar. However, his career began at Team Saxo Bank - Sungard, where he was called up to the team's WorldTour squad at the beginning of the year following his transfer in 2011. In the following years, the young Pole provided important support services and helped Alberto Contador to win the Vuelta.
First a contender for victory, then a helper
Majka already attracted attention in 2013 with his second place at Milan-Turin and his third place at the Tour of Lombardy. Majka finished sixth in the Tour of Italy in 2014 and won two stages and the mountains jersey in the Tour de France in the same year. Rafał Majka repeated his second place at Milan-Turin in 2015 and recorded another stage win at the Tour. Majka made it back into the top 5 at the Giro the following year and again took the mountains jersey at the Tour de France - without winning a single stage. Just a short time after arriving in Paris, he finished third in the Olympic road race in Brazil.
After switching to BORA - hansgrohe, Majka was able to celebrate a stage win at the Tour of Spain in 2017. With his move to UAE Team Emirates for the 2021 season, the Pole's role changed abruptly. As an important domestique for Tadej Pogačar, he helped him to his second Tour victory and became another Vuelta stage winner in the same year.
Leon Weidner
Working student
