After three weeks of grinding his way towards the final podium of the Vuelta a Espana, the cameras recorded the moment Rafal Majka realised he'd done it just after the finish of Saturday's penultimate stage in the mountains.
Having started Saturday’s penultimate stage of the Vuelta in 4th place overall, Rafal Majka was fighting an uphill battle to make it onto his first Grand Tour podium.
He began the day 2:31 down on overnight leader Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin) and was a significant 1:07 down on 3rd placed man Joaquim Rodriguez.
The Pole riding for Tinkoff-Saxo also had Nairo Quintana (Movistar) just one place behind him overall; the talented Colombian just 31 seconds in arrears with a day in the mountains ahead of the riders.
But Dumoulin’s collapse saw him slide from the leader’s red jersey to 6th overall having been distanced even before the last climb began.
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The Dutchman saw his time loss grow and grow all the way to the finish at Cercedilla , with the man who took the race lead from him Fabio Aru having the help of his Astana team mates to tow him to victory.
And when Quintana shot from the group of Aru on the last climb of the day, Majka went after him. He matched him all the way, even gaining two seconds on him in the last push to the line.
He pulled out 55 seconds on Rodriguez and 56 on Aru, not to mention just over 4:48 on Dumoulin.
It meant Majka leapfrogged Dumoulin in the general standings and held off Quintana to climb to 3rd overall behind leader Aru and Rodriguez who moved into 2nd overall.
Assuming he holds that into Madrid tomorrow, which seems a foregone conclusion, Majka will take the first Grand Tour finish of his career.
The 26-year-old’s best in Grand Tours before this Vuelta had been 7th and 6th in the 2013 and 2014 Giro respectively.
The cameras were there to capture the moment after the stage he realised he was on a Grand Tour podium for the first time after eight attempts over five years.
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“I am so happy right now because this is my dream,” he said, clearly overwhelmed.
“To reach the podium of a Grand Tour is very special for me. I want to thank my teammates, without them I wouldn’t be on the podium.
“And I also want to dedicate this win to my family and my wife."
Majka overwhelmed
Rafal Majka celebrates La Vuelta podium!Watch the touching reaction from our captain as he discovers that he has reached the podium of La Vuelta! We are so proud of you Rafa!!A fantastic birthday present after a flat-out team effort in the final grand showdown!!!
Posted by Tinkoff Saxo on Saturday, 12 September 2015
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