Sylwester Szmyd

He set the pace for the lead group numerous times in the hilly stages and managed a 28th general classification spot.

Sylwester Szmyd (born 2 March 1978) is a Polish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016.

Born in Bydgoszcz, Szmyd competed as a climber who served as a leader in smaller stage races, and as a strong mountain domestique for his team leaders in the Grand Tours.

He completed all of the 23 Grand Tours that he started during his career.

In 2009, Szmyd scored the first victory of his career when he crossed the finish line atop the Mont Ventoux during the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.

He had broken away with Alejandro Valverde and the pair finished together.

Szmyd said afterward that he was so used to sacrifice himself as a domestique for his captains that his legs almost buckled in the last corner when he realized he would win.

In the 2012 Giro del Trentino, Szmyd was allowed to race for himself and placed well on the final two stages of the race, which were mountainous.

In stage 3, he came in second place after tackling a very steep climb, the Punta Veleno (8.5 km at an average 15% gradient).

The finish line was situated 1.5 km after the summit.

On the last stage to the Pordoi Pass, Szmyd finished in fourth position at the altitude finish, securing his third place in the overall classification.

Snow was falling as he, race winner Domenico Pozzovivo and Damiano Cunego were accepting their awards on the podium.

He participated in the Giro d'Italia a couple of weeks later, riding in support of his leader Ivan Basso.

Szmyd left his team of four years at the end of the 2012 season, and joined the on a two-year contract, from the 2013 season onwards.

In December 2014 Szmyd announced he was joining the Polish team on a one-year deal for 2015, after expressing dissatisfaction about his time at Movistar, where he was only selected for a Grand Tour once during his two years with the team.