Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) was expected to be one of the losers in today's Giro d'Italia time trial but the Pole ended up being one of the winners. Having finished the stage in fourth, he is no longer targeting a top 5 result: now he wants to finish on the podium.

Today’s 41.9 kilometer long individual time trial from Barberesco to Barolo was an undulating stretch testing the GC riders and the specialists in the field. Therefore, it was a very important day for Tinkoff-Saxo’s Rafal Majka who was third overall before the stage.
 
Teammate and yesterday’s stage winner, Michael Rogers crossed the finish line in fourth position which is a very good result considering the effort he put into his solo ride yesterday. However, Diego Ulissi (Lampre) brutally smashed the previous best time with no less than impressive 50 seconds.
 
Tinkoff-Saxo’s Rafal Majka rode the time trial of his life and crossed the intermediate time check third best and on the finish line, the young Polish rider was second best. But only a few moments later, Rigoberto Uran (Omega-Pharma Quick Step) tore the classification to pieces and won the stage convincingly. Cadel Evans (BMC) who won the Tour de France on the final time trial in 2011, finished third today and Uran practically pulled off Evans’ leader’s jersey.
 
Rafal Majka finished fourth in today’s time trial and remained 3rd overall. He’s now 1.52 minutes behind today’s stage winner.
 

"I rode this time trial with Michael Rogers this morning and when we were riding, he told me that it was a time trial for me. He said. ‘You need to go in fast,’" Majka told Cyclingnews. "I’m really happy."

"Uran is strong but we still have a long, long last week and we need to keep our heads. I want to finish this Giro in the first three.

"I think – I believe – that I’m very strong. Bjarne Riis is coming for the last week, in fact he was here today and he’s following me now. We have a very strong team. Michael Rogers and Nicolas Roche are here to guide me. I’m still young but they’re guiding me and I’m very happy that I can ride with this team.

"If I went strong today, it means that I’m going to be strong in the mountains too."

“Rafa did a very good time trial where he distanced his rival in the young rider classification, Fabio Airu (Astana), and Pozzovivo while matching Cadel Evans who brilliantly saved enough energy for final bit of the course," sports director Lars Michaelsen said. "Compared to our own Rogers, we know that Rafa lost time on the flat sections but was riding magnificently on the slopes.

"But no one was able to beat Uran today. He’s been saving energy throughout the race until now where he reveals how fast he’s going. He’s going to be hard to beat."
 
Tomorrow’s stage is a lumpy course but with a flat finish for the sprinters.