Rafal Majka added another top result to an already good season when he finished 2nd in today's Milan-Turin. Originally designated to work as a domestique for Alberto Contador, the Pole attacked when his captain was too heavily marked by his rivals.

Rafal Majka made another splendid performance in today's Milan-Turin when he finished 2nd behind Diego Ulissi (Lampre). The Pole rode an aggressive race and made it into attacks on both passages of the Colle di Superga which featured twice in the finish.

Majka was originally designated to work as a domestique for defending champion Alberto Contador but the Spaniard was heavily marked by his rivals. This opened opportunities for Majka who benefited from the freedom to attack with Domenico Pozzovivo on the final climb to the finish. Those two riders were later joined by Ulissi and Daniel Moreno (Katusha) to make up the quartet that decided the race.

In the end, Majka was unable to keep up with Ulissi when he accelerated inside the final 250m and had to settle for 2nd.

"Actually, I felt good towards the end but Diego was just faster than me," he explained to CyclingQuotes at the finish. "I tried to attack on the penultimate passage of the climb. Alberto was the captain but many riders watched him closely. When I attacked, I acted as his substitute. We did a good race."

Like most of the other riders in Milan-Turin, Majka will be back in action on Sunday when the series of Italian autumn classics continues with the biggest of them all, Il Lombardia. Despite his good condition, he will once again serve his leader.

"We will try again in Lombardy and I hope the weather will be good," he said. "Even though he hasn't raced much recently, Alberto is in good condition and Il Lombardia suits him well, so I will work for him."

Sports director Fabrizio Guidi was happy with the result and is confident ahead of Sunday's race.

“With these guys on the start line, it 's only natural to expect a good result and to go for the win and we came pretty close," he said. "The whole team did a good job first by catching the breakaway and afterwards several attacks by Rafal and Alberto during the final kilometres of the race. The result reveals that we're ready to take on the final races of the season in good form and we will do what we can to get a similar or even better result in Giro di Lombardia."

On Sunday you can follow Il Lombardia on CyclingQuotes.com/live.