Rafal Majka broke a 10-year home drought in the Tour de Pologne when he won today's first mountain stage of the race. Having been greatly supported by the home fans throughout the race, he dedicated the victory to the crowd and remained cautious about his opportunities in tomorrow's final mountain stage.

Going into the Tour de Pologne, Rafal Majka had done nothing to hide his intention to win his home race overall and today he put himself in position for doing that when he won the queen stage. In the uphill finish in Slovakia, the Pole emerged as the strongest when a 20-rider group sprinted for the win.

All day Majka had used his Tinkoff-Saxo team to make the race as hard as possible and whittle down the peloton while the local hero was preparing himself of the finale. However, he faced a tough ask in a stage that may have had a summit finish but was a bit too easy to suit a pure climber like him perfectly.

The finishing circuit was made up of a 10km climb which would be tackled three times and whose average gradient of below 5% made it one for puncheurs more than climbers. The finish line was located at the top of an extra 1.5km section that included a 16% section and this was where Majka made the difference.Going into the Tour de Pologne, Rafal Majka had done nothing to hide his intention to win his home race overall and today he put himself in position for doing that when he won the queen stage. In the uphill finish in Slovakia, the Pole emerged as the strongest when a 20-rider group sprinted for the win.

All day Majka had used his Tinkoff-Saxo team to make the race as hard as possible and whittle down the peloton while the local hero was preparing himself of the finale. However, he faced a tough ask in a stage that may have had a summit finish but was a bit too easy to suit a pure climber like him perfectly.

The finishing circuit was made up of a 10km climb which would be tackled three times and whose average gradient of below 5% made it one for puncheurs more than climbers. The finish line was located at the top of an extra 1.5km section that included a 16% section and this was where Majka made the difference.

Majka made use of some unusual sprinting skills to beat faster riders like Gianluca Brambilla in the uphill dash to the line and broke the 10-year drought for the home riders in their national Tour.

"I want to thank you to my teammates because they did a great job," he said. "We pulled on the last climb and also the first climb. Also we had one of our guys in the breakaway, so we controlled the race.  But tomorrow is difficult, so I don't know how I'll feel.

"Today, I have to say I'm tired as this was not to easy. The climb was so fast, in a big gear. Maybe I won because I have a lot of motivation from all the Polish supporters on the road screaming my name. I'm so happy because I came to this race especially for them.

"It's perfect, I'm so happy. Ten years there's no win at Tour de Pologne from a Polish guy, but of course I do it just like at the Tour de France when I won two stages as a Polish rider. So tomorrow we will again need to fight, but I am not sure how I will feel.

"I know the final time trial because the course is only 20 kilometers from my home but first of all we will see tomorrow. For the moment I want to enjoy this victory with my great team."

“Our boys did a fantastic job for Rafal throughout the whole day setting him up for the finale," sports director Tristan Hoffman said. "The final slope wasn’t really that steep so the pace was high and rather big group of 25 riders were to sprint it out between them.

"Rafal waited and waited until the perfect moment where he demonstrated that he has taken some of his good form from the Tour de France with him home to Poland. Now, he’s one second away from the jersey and tomorrow’s stage will be more difficult than today’s but our guys are ready."