Rafal Majka had a breakthrough grand tour performance in this year's Giro d'Italia when he finished 7th overall and nearly won the white jersey for best young rider. For next year, the Pole has set his sights on an improved performance in the Italian grand tour and also hopes to make up for his disappointment at the Vuelta.

Ever since he joined the Saxo-Tinkoff team in the beginning of the 2011 season, Rafal Majka has given indications that he has the potential to develop into one of the leading grand tour riders in the world. Such was the confidence from team owner Bjarne Riis that the Pole was expected to lead the team in the Giro d'Italia already in his second season as a professional in 2012. Unfortunately, injuries forced him to miss out on the opportunity but he bounced back with a solid showing in that year's Vuelta when he worked tirelessly for eventual winner Alberto Contador.

This year he finally got his chance to see what he is capable of in a three-week race when he finished 7th overall in the Giro and battled hard with Carlos Betancur (Ag2r) for the white jersey. In the end, he missed out on the coveted tunic but his splendid climbing confirmed his potential as a grand tour contenders.

Majka went on to ride his home race Tour de Pologne where he was one of the strongest climbers and finished 4th overall. He had hoped to continue his progress in the Vuelta and was well-placed in the top 10 on GC when he suffered in the cold on the dramatic stage to Andorra and lost all hopes of a high overall result.

That experience stands out as a major disappointment for Majka in a season that has otherwise been very successful.

"It has been a good year and I feel that I have really improved," he tells Cyclismactu  in an interview. "I fought well in the Giro but I also still have many things to improve. There was also a disappointment for me in the Vuelta."

When Majka fell out of GC contention in Spain, he settled into a domestique role for teammate Nicholas Roche who finished 5th overall. His chance to help a successful teammate was the only slight consolation for his disappointment.

"In the Giro I saw what I was capable of in a grand tour," he explained. "I did one race before the Vuelta, it was the Tour of Poland where it went well. In the Vuelta, everything was pretty good until this terrible stage to Andorra where we experienced a big temperature change. We went from over 30°C to rain and 0°C  in just one day. I handled this change very poorly, and I lost 23 minutes in a single day. It was all over for me."

"I finished nineteenth but I don't care," he added. "The only satisfaction I got is to have helped Nico get fifth place but personally it's a disappointment."

Next year the team's star rider Alberto Contador will once again lead the team in the Tour de France and the Spaniard also plans to ride the Vuelta. This opens the door for Majka who once again plans to go for the GC in the Italian grand tour instead of supporting his leader in the biggest race of the year.

"Like this year, my main goal will be the Giro where I hope to do even better," he said. "Then I will do the Vuelta like in 2013, hoping for more success. This is a good combination I think."

Majka has mostly excelled as a climber but usually loses time in the time trials. He showed great improvement when he finished 10th in the Tour de Pologne race against the clock but still sees the individual discipline as his major weakness.

"It is imperative that I improve in the time trials and develop my skills in the mountains," he said. "The ability to go fast against the clock is what can help make a difference and win a big stage race."

Majka had hoped to excel in the world championships but suffered in the cold and never featured at the pointy end of the race. However, he showed good condition on Sunday when he finished 2nd in Milan-Turin despite working for defending champion Contador.

Today his season comes to a close in Il Lombardia where he hopes to end the year on a high by riding well for an in-form Contador.

"We're going with a strong team around Alberto," he said. "On Wednesday, we saw that he was fit and it is a course for climbers. Personally this is my last race of the year before some well-deserved vacation."

Starting at 13.45 you can follow Il Lombardia on CyclingQuotes.com/live.